Karl Walther

1905 Zeitz near Leipzig – Seeshaupt 1981

 

Painter Karl Walther belongs to those German impressionists to be rediscovered in the course of the revaluation of figurative art. After an apprenticeship as a lithograph, abandoned music studies in favor of painting studies and a short stay at the Leipzig Academy the 20-year-old had first successes. Highly praised by Berlin critics and later by Max Liebermann, Oskar Kokoschka, Erich Heckel, Hans Purrmann and Max Slevogt, Walther started a career as a portraitist and painter of still lives, landscapes and city views. Study trips took him to Paris, Amsterdam and Florence. His art was inspired by the German and French Impressionists, a deep concern for the work of Frans Hals and paintings by Menzel, Courbet and the circle around Leibl. Drawing on this rich tradition Walther developed a unique and individual style of a second-generation Impressionist. Karl Walther had many solo shows and participated among others in the XXI. Venice Biennale and nine times in the International Exhibition at Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh/USA. His works can be found in many museums and galleries as well as in renowned private collections.