Friedrich Ludwig (painter)

Friedrich Ludwig was the ninth oldest child in his family; he had sixteen siblings.[3] His family farmed in Wieslet, in the Black Forest region of Southern Germany.[3] From 1901–1909, he attended elementary school in Schopfheim.[4] He completed an apprenticeship for painting and decorating in the same town.[4] From 1913 to 1917, he worked as a decorator in Zurich, Switzerland.[3][4] In 1917, he joined the German military, although he identified as a pacifist.[3][4]

In 1920 Ludwig joined the "Badenweiler Kreis", which was a group of like-minded people; the group's notable members included Thomas Mann, Annette Kolg, and Alfred Krupp.[4] In 1922, Ludwig traveled to Italy and viewed the work of Piero della Francesca; this work left a lasting impression.[4] From 1922 to 1926 Ludwig studied at the Städel school in Frankfurt.[4]

In 1926 Ludwig was accepted at the prestigious Académie Julian in Paris;[5] it is known for educating Cézanne, Gauguin, Émile Bernard, Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard, Eduard Vuillard, Maillol, and Achille Laugé.[4]

From 1928 to 1930, Ludwig was surrounded Parisian artists, this is considered Ludwig's most creative period.[4]

In 1931, Ludwig went to Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, to focus on inner peace.[4] During this time, he mainly depicted nature and landscapes in his artwork.[4]

His first official exhibition in 1934 in Munich was forbidden by the Nazi official Adolf Wagner, who described it as "in an un-German manner".[4] The National Socialist Party considered him to be a degenerate and forbid him from painting.[5]

In 1935, the gallery "Neupert" in Zurich offered to host an exhibition of Ludwig's work.[4] Although the exhibition was successful, he rejected an offer to remain in Switzerland; instead he traveled to Bellinzona, the Adria, Paris, over Wieslet and back to Bad Reichenhall, where he settled down in 1940.[4] Here he created his series of paintings called, "The Blue Mountains". Created from 1938–1941, the series shows blue mountains located in Upper Bavaria.[6]

After the surrender of the Third Reich in 1945, the Americans granted Ludwig permission to resume painting; he moved to Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.[4]

In 1956 Ludwig exhibited two of his works in Munich, along with the group "Blauer Reiter".[4] In 1957, he had his first comprehensive exhibit at Karin Hielscher, a gallery in Munich.[4] This consisted of 45 works, almost all of which were sold. During this time, Ludwig met several times with Reinhard Mueller Mehlis, an art critic and historian.[4] In 1958, he had a second exhibition at Karin Hielscher; all of his works presented were sold.[4] In 1964, his third exhibition, consisting of 27 works, were presented in Munich; all of his works were sold.[4]

In 1965 he exhibited at the "Regensburger Gallery".[4]

In 1941, Ludwig married Berta Heiratet, the daughter of a lawyer; in 1949 they divorced.[4]

On 27 December 1954, Ludwig married Christel Sprengel, and in 1955 his son Michael was born.[4] In 1959, his wife left him and moved with their son to Piding, Bavaria.[4]

In 1965, Christel Sprengel expressed concerns about Ludwig's mental health in a letter to Swiss art historian Werner Mueller; she stated that Ludwig was confused and emotionally absent.[4] On 31 July 1968, he was admitted to the mental hospital Gabersee in close proximity to Wasserburg, Inn.[4] In 1968, his son Michael committed suicide at the age of thirteen.[4] Friedrich Ludwig died at a hospital in Gabersee on 22 January 1970.[2] He was buried in Piding beside his son.

Ludwig, who was mentally ill, claimed to have burned all of his works causing him to almost be forgotten.[5] However, in 1984, Sigurd Marien, a lawyer and an art collector, purchased a baroque closet that contained some of Ludwig's paintings.[5]

In 1999, the Friedrich Ludwig Museum, in his hometown of Wieslet, was founded under the direction of Dr. Viardot.[7] The museum holds approximately 2,000 of Ludwig's works.[5] In 2012, the museum closed in order to focus on archiving all of his known works.[7]

The record price for his artwork was set in 2013, when his painting, Zwei Mädchen, sold for US$7,873.[8]

• Ludwig-collection of KUK - Kunst Und Kultur (Art And Culture) Kl. Wiesental, Germany
• Ketterer Kunst auction-house
• Ludwig Museum homepage