Hugo von Tschudi

Hugo von Tschudi ( born February 7, 1851 Good Jakobshof near Edlitz in Austria, † November 23, 1911 in Stuttgart ) was a major art historian and museum director.

Life

Family

Hugo von Tschudi came from an old Swiss noble family which can be traced back to the 10th century. His father, Johann Jakob von Tschudi was a Swiss explorer and diplomat, his mother Ottilie a daughter of the painter Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carol Field.

Vienna

After completion of the Gymnasium, Tschudi devoted to the University of Vienna first law school, where he graduated in 1875 with a doctorate. During this time he also attended lectures in art history first. He then took two years study trips to Germany, Holland, Belgium, England, France, and Italy. 1876 ​​appeared his first publication: A tour of the modern Paris. In Italy he met in 1877 the painter Hans von Marées know. 1878 to 1879 was followed by an internship at the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry in Vienna. Tschudi undertook after further study trips to France and Italy. Meanwhile, he worked on the new edition of Nagler 's dictionary of artists, a book about the art gallery in Budapest and for the yearbooks of the Royal Prussian art collections.

Berlin

In 1883 he also met Wilhelm Bode know who took him as an assistant at the Berlin Gemäldegalerie. Bode took Tschudi first in his villa in the Uhland Road on and there was a constructive cooperation. During this time, the discussion of the works of art of the Christian eras appeared in the Royal Museums of Berlin and it developed a friendly relationship with Alfred Lichtwark. 1889 referred Tschudi own apartment. In his travels to study and sales negotiations through several countries in Europe Tschudi left many works of art photograph, in order to use as a working basis, which was met with incomprehension Bode. Since 1887, close contact with Cosima Wagner and Tschudi was visited repeatedly the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. In Berlin, he frequented the literary salon of Carl and Felicie Bernstein, where she learned French Impressionist painting know. Together with Henry Thode was Tschudi 1894 from the prestigious art magazine repertory for Art Research out. In the same year was appointed professor was. 1896 Hugo von Tschudi was director of the National Gallery in Berlin. Together with Max Liebermann he traveled to Paris and bought more than 30 works of art by foreign artists, where Manet, Monet and Degas were the focus. The money came partly from donors and partly by special means. In December of Édouard Manet was issued in the conservatory at the National Gallery. It was the first work by the artist, which was bought for a museum. During this time, Tschudi was appointed member of the Senate of the Prussian Academy of Arts.

1897 came with the mill on the Couleuvre at Pontoise first time an image of Cézanne in a museum. The new acquisitions were presented on the first floor of the National Gallery in a completely new way: on a bright wall hangings, the pictures were hung generous, with no more than two rows of images were superposed. The works of the academic painter, however, came to the depot. Anton von Werner and Kaiser Wilhelm II stayed here over outraged and demanded to restore the old hanging, which Tschudi also had to implement and showed the French painting on the third floor of the house. Yet Tschudi in 1898 awarded the Red Eagle IV class. It developed at this time friendships with Harry Graf Kessler, Henry van de Velde, Gerhart Hauptmann and close contacts with the painters Hans Thoma, Wilhelm Trübner, Max Klinger, Arnold Böcklin. In 1900 he married Fausta Angela Olivares which their son Hans Gilg 1901 brought to the world. In 1902 appeared von Tschudi the first German book on Édouard Manet and he met Rodin. Had great success in 1905 with the Tschudi Menzel Memorial Exhibition. To purchase the Menzel estate he received a special bonus of 1.5 million marks. 1906, this success was surpassed by the Centennial exhibition of German art. Together with Alfred Lichtwark and Julius Meier-Graefe presented Tschudi here the German art from 1775 to 1875. Artists such as Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Blechen experienced a great deal of attention. Tschudi, in turn, was given special funds to art works from this exhibition to purchase. At the same time, he used the positive mood to be approved further donations of Impressionist painting. For his services he was appointed a Privy Councillor. In the following years there were more differences with Wilhelm Bode. This intrigued increasingly against Tschudi, when he saw an increasingly competitive particularly with regard to the favor of patrons. Finally it came 1908 " Tschudi Affair." When purchasing works of the Barbizon school Tschudi had first obtained the approval of the emperor, what this but did not want to remember. Tschudi, who suffered for years from lupus vulgaris (and therefore also wore a partial face mask), was first granted leave for a year and appointed Anton von Werner to the secretary. Tschudi used this time for an extended study trip to Japan.

Munich

1909 joined Tschudi as director of the State galleries in Munich. Here he began the reorganization of the collections. For the Neue Pinakothek first impressionist works were acquired. There was a lively exchange with Wassily Kandinsky and Carl Sternheim. " He was not only a great man, but also a Big Man ", as Wassily Kandinsky on Tschudi, because Tschudi had at Heinrich Thannhauser 1909 the exhibition rooms for the New Artists ' Association of Munich ( NKVM ) "forced".

In April 1911 Carl Vinnen published the font A protest German artist, in which he accused the reduction of contemporary German painting and the preference of foreign artists attack. Just Hugo von Tschudi fell into the line of fire. In November of Hugo von Tschudi died. At his grave saying, Julius Meier -Graefe and Max Liebermann. Much of the Tschudi for Berlin and Munich already purchased and financed mainly by foreign donors Berlin works came as " Tschudi donation " 1912/1913 in the Munich Neue Pinakothek.

Four weeks after Tschudi's death opened the exhibition on December 18, 1911 in the Thannhauser Gallery The Blue Rider, a Secession, from the NKVM had split off. In May 1912, edited by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, Der Blaue Reiter Almanac was published with a dedication " to the memory of Hugo von Tschudi ." Marc wrote in his text contribution Spiritual goods in the almanac: "How dare we, the noble memory Tschudi to dedicate this first book for which he still promised his active help is always just a few days before his death ."

Pictures of the Tschudi donation

Paul Cézanne: Self Portrait

Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers

Paul Gauguin: Birth of Christ, the Son of God (Te tamari no atua )