Description

Gustav Kampmann (Boppard, 1859 – Godesberg, 1917)

Trees and rocks in a forest

Gustav Kampmann trees rocks : Aquatint etching

Original proof on strong ochre cardboard signed in the print (lower left)

Dimensions of the sheet : H. 510 mm x W. 365 mm – Dimensions at the plate mark : H. 375 mm x W. 250 mm

Gustav Kampmann trees rocks : German landscape painter and lithographer, this artist is the half-brother of the draughtswoman and lithographer Jenny Fikentscher (1869-1959), German painter and graphic designer of the Art nouveau. This woman artist married in 1891 the animal painter Otto Fikentscher. Her first works are sheets of poems calligraphy and ornamented. For the plant ornaments, she used local plants that she found in her environment, such as cherry blossoms, Christmas roses and wild vines. From 1897, she turned to lithography. Kampmann studied in Karlsruhe and did her military service in the years 1880/81. After this obligatory episode in Germany, especially in this period of internal tension, he travels a lot. In 1880 Kampmann made a study trip to Lake Constance and in 1883 he went to Upper Bavaria. The artist moved to Munich (1884-87). Then he visited southern Germany and the Tyrol. He was in Lübeck in 1887 and again in Munich (1888/89). Gustav settled in Grötzingen in 1890 where he was active in an artists’ colony. He traveled to Belgium and Holland in 1891, to the Black Forest in 1897 and to Tangiers in 1901. Kampmann became a founding member of the Karlsruhe Artists’ League in 1896. He was appointed Professor in 1905. In 1914, Gustav volunteered in the German army reserves stationed in Karlsruhe. He died in 1917 in a nursing home in Bad Godesberg. This artist is best known for his lithographs and landscape studies. He is considered the most important member of the Grötzingen School of painters.