Rudolf Hesse

Rudolf Hesse, born on July 13, 1871 in Saarlouis and died on May 22, 1944 in Munich, was an outstanding German painter and graphic artist whose diverse oeuvre encompassed the fields of oil painting, watercolor painting, drawing, etching, drypoint and vernis mou.

Hesse was born the son of the merchant Michael Hesse and initially received commercial training. However, his passion for the fine arts led him to study under Nikolaus Gysis at the Royal Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1896 to 1901. During this time, he joined the circle known as “Die Niederländer”, which brought together artists, lawyers, officers and businessmen. In this circle, Hesse used the name “Van der Huye” in the usual variation of names.

Between 1901 and 1905, Hesse spent time studying in Paris, where he enrolled at the Louvre to copy the work “Le Christ au tombeau” by Jusepe de Ribera. He returned to Munich in 1906, and in August 1908 he married the painter Felicitas Tillessen, with whom he had three children: Lilly (born 1909), Werner (born 1910; died 1945, himself a painter and illustrator) and Renate (born 1912). After moving to Koblenz in 1910, Hesse founded a painting school there. However, the family returned to Munich in 1912, where Hesse lived until the end of his life.

Rudolf Hesse became a full member of the Munich Artists’ Cooperative in 1916 and a member of the “48” group, which belonged to the cooperative. During the National Socialist era, he was initially appreciated for his portraits, but his socially critical works met with disapproval. A work entitled “Death as a chess player” was confiscated and destroyed, and his caricatures were banned.

In collaboration with the printer Heinrich Graf, he produced graphic portfolios. Hesse also devoted himself to commercial art, creating bookplates and advertising designs. His work also included a considerable number of caricatures. He worked for various magazines such as “Fliegende Blätter”, “Die Jugend”, “Kladderadatsch”, “Simplicissimus” and “Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte”, as well as for book publishers, for whom he produced illustrations. In 1903, he published the children’s book “Fritz und Heinrich” by Georg Friedemann, which he illustrated, followed by “Spaß muß sein” in 1912 (Piper & Co-Verlag Munich). The latter was an album of 80 pen and ink drawings and played a key role in establishing his reputation as an outstanding illustrator and caricaturist. Some of his works were reminiscent of artists such as Van Dyck or Rembrandt, for example a picture of the crucifixion in which the light shone around the crucified man and was surrounded by darkness. Nevertheless, his works were always independent creations. Genre scenes in his work were reminiscent of Dutch genre painting and testify to his versatility and artistic expressiveness.