Alfred Zwiebel
Encyclopedia
Alfred Zwiebel was a German-American landscape, floral, and still-life painter.
He was born in Fürth
, in southern Germany
, but when he was four, his family moved to the city of Bamberg
, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its medieval cathedral
and many other gems of art
and architecture
from the Middle Ages
, Renaissance
, and Baroque
. It was there that he spent his childhood and youth, and the beauty of that city and its surrounding area, the region
of Germany known as "Franconian Switzerland
," inspired him from his boyhood to the end of his life.
Soon after the Nazis came to power, Zwiebel and his family left Germany; he and his four siblings were raised as Lutherans by their mother, but his father was Jewish, as well as politically active against the Nazis. In 1935, Zwiebel immigrated to the United States
, living first in Milwaukee and then settling in New York City
, where in 1941 he married Clara Fried, a portrait painter who had studied with American Realist artist Tully Filmus. They had one child, a daughter. Zwiebel served in the U.S. Army during World War II
and became an American citizen in 1944.
For the next 20 years he worked at a variety of "day jobs," painting whenever he had free time. Among other things, he worked as a baker, ski salesman, and commercial artist. From 1949-1953, he was a radio personality in New York City, where he had a weekly program, "Music From Alfred Zwiebel's Collection," on station WABF, playing opera
and classical music
recordings from his own extensive collection (opera was another of his lifelong passions). He also occasionally wrote articles on music for publication. Two singers engaged at the Metropolitan Opera
in the 1950s and '60s, Lisa Della Casa
and Anneliese Rothenberger
, studied painting with him while in New York.,
By the 1960s, he was able to devote himself to painting full-time. In the ensuing decades, his work was shown in galleries and museums across the United States, and in England
, Austria
and his native Germany, where he achieved particular critical acclaim. (Excerpts from some reviews are included below.)
When in 1977 Countess and Count Lennart Bernadotte opened a public art gallery
in their castle
on Mainau Island, a popular tourist site on Lake Constance
(Bodensee) because of its spectacular gardens, Zwiebel was invited to give the inaugural exhibition
. He was also invited by the city of Bamberg to give an exhibition as part of the city's 1,000th-anniversary celebration in 1973 and to take part in the special exhibition marking the 975th anniversary of the Bamberg Cathedral
in 1987. Two of his works are represented in the catalog of that exhibition, "Symbol-Object-Motif: The Bamberg Cathedral and its Representation in Painting, Graphics and Other Art Forms from the Middle Ages to the Present."
In 1993, the Bamberg Historical Museum (Historisches Museum Bamberg), which also owns two of his works, gave a major retrospective
exhibition of his work.
Other selected exhibitions include:
Zwiebel worked in oil
, pastel
, and oil pastel
(also called oilstick). Some of his work was done using rather dark values, especially a number of landscapes painted largely in blue and purple tones. Generally, however, Zwiebel was known for the vibrancy of his palette
, as evidenced, for example, in the following press review (entitled "Optimism Expressed in Color"):
Zwiebel was artistically somewhat out of sync with many of the artists of his own and subsequent generations, as he felt alienated by, and rejected, much of 20th-century modernism
, particularly Abstract Expressionism
. He felt the deepest affinity for Impressionism
. The individual artists by whom he was most strongly influenced were Claude Monet
(like Monet, he was fascinated by water lilies and made a great number of paintings of them), Camille Pissarro
, Vincent van Gogh
, and, in his flower paintings, Odilon Redon
. When asked to which stylistic movement he felt he most belonged, he replied, "An artist must be free to work in whatever style the moment calls for, but if anything, I would call myself a modern impressionist."
Although some of his paintings are more post-impressionistic or even expressionistic in style, most art critics who reviewed his work also called him an Impressionist:
"Zwiebel is an 'admitted romanticist' and adds he's quite proud of this fact. Many of his canvases have the lyrical beauty of the French Impressionists. Looking over the walls of the Zwiebel home, soft pastels shimmer about. Paintings of a Long Island
pond, a cabbage patch in Scarsdale
, have much of the beauty of the great landscapes of Monet and Pissarro."
"Zwiebel has a capacity of feeling as turbulent as van Gogh, as soft as Turner
, and as impressionistic as Monet."
"Alfred Zwiebel uses the impressionistic technique with all its wealth of light, nuanced play of color, and open palette, and this breathes life into what he paints. ... One could call Zwiebel a belated Pissarro, but with the caveat that he is a Pissarro for contemporary eyes."
"Zwiebel, whose models have always been the great Impressionists, has intentionally remained apart from the 'Moderns'... He stayed with Impressionism. But he has achieved, as the paintings exhibited here prove, mastery in this style. His landscapes are imbued with life; his flower still lifes have an almost tropical opulence of colors and forms. To view these works gives one great pleasure."
"Zwiebel has often been called a 'modern impressionist.' His works, with all their nuances of light and richness of palate [sic], are predominantly impressionistic in style although they also have a uniquely individual expressionist character, wherein the inner essence of a subject is more important than its outward form."
. He died of pneumonia
in New York City at the age of 90.
Early life
Fürth
The city of Fürth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....
, in southern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, but when he was four, his family moved to the city of Bamberg
Bamberg
Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its medieval cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
The Bamberg Cathedral is a church in Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bamberg....
and many other gems of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, and Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
. It was there that he spent his childhood and youth, and the beauty of that city and its surrounding area, the region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
of Germany known as "Franconian Switzerland
Franconian Switzerland
The Little Switzerland is an upland in Upper Franconia, northern Bavaria and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the Pegnitz River in the east and the south, the Regnitz River in the west and the Main River in the north, its relief reaches 600 metres in height.The Franconian Switzerland is...
," inspired him from his boyhood to the end of his life.
Soon after the Nazis came to power, Zwiebel and his family left Germany; he and his four siblings were raised as Lutherans by their mother, but his father was Jewish, as well as politically active against the Nazis. In 1935, Zwiebel immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, living first in Milwaukee and then settling in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where in 1941 he married Clara Fried, a portrait painter who had studied with American Realist artist Tully Filmus. They had one child, a daughter. Zwiebel served in the U.S. Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and became an American citizen in 1944.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
recordings from his own extensive collection (opera was another of his lifelong passions). He also occasionally wrote articles on music for publication. Two singers engaged at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in the 1950s and '60s, Lisa Della Casa
Lisa Della Casa
Lisa Della Casa is a Swiss soprano most admired for her interpretations of major heroines in major operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss, of German lieder, and for her great beauty. She was dubbed “the most beautiful woman on the operatic stage”...
and Anneliese Rothenberger
Anneliese Rothenberger
Anneliese Rothenberger was a German operatic soprano who had an active international performance career which spanned from 1943 to 1983...
, studied painting with him while in New York.,
Artistic Career and Exhibitions
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and his native Germany, where he achieved particular critical acclaim. (Excerpts from some reviews are included below.)
When in 1977 Countess and Count Lennart Bernadotte opened a public art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
in their castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
on Mainau Island, a popular tourist site on Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
(Bodensee) because of its spectacular gardens, Zwiebel was invited to give the inaugural exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
. He was also invited by the city of Bamberg to give an exhibition as part of the city's 1,000th-anniversary celebration in 1973 and to take part in the special exhibition marking the 975th anniversary of the Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
The Bamberg Cathedral is a church in Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bamberg....
in 1987. Two of his works are represented in the catalog of that exhibition, "Symbol-Object-Motif: The Bamberg Cathedral and its Representation in Painting, Graphics and Other Art Forms from the Middle Ages to the Present."
In 1993, the Bamberg Historical Museum (Historisches Museum Bamberg), which also owns two of his works, gave a major retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective generally means to take a look back at events that already have taken place. For example, the term is used in medicine, describing a look back at a patient's medical history or lifestyle.-Music:...
exhibition of his work.
Other selected exhibitions include:
- 1963, The Parrish Art Museum, SouthamptonSouthamptonSouthampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, New York: "Contemporary Flower Paintings" - 1968, Galerie Schumacher, MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany: "ALFRED ZWIEBEL, New York" - 1971, Art Association of Harrisburg, PA and Livingston Gallery, New York, NY: "The Five Media Show"
- 1980, Antiquariat Heinemann, StarnbergStarnbergThe city of Starnberg is in Bavaria, Germany, some 30 km south-west of Munich. It lies at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg...
, Germany: "Exhibition of Paintings by Alfred Zwiebel, New York" - 1992, Mary Anthony Fine Art Gallery, New HopeNew Hope-Places:United States*New Hope, Alabama*New Hope, Florida*New Hope, Georgia*New Hope, Illinois*New Hope, Kentucky*New Hope, Minnesota*New Hope, Mississippi*New Hope, North Carolina*New Hope, Ohio*New Hope, Pennsylvania*New Hope, Tennessee...
, PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
: "Exhibition of Internationally Known 20th-Century Impressionist ALFRED ZWIEBEL"
Work
Oil paint
Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the...
, pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
, and oil pastel
Oil pastel
Oil pastel is a painting and drawing medium with characteristics similar to pastels and wax crayons. Unlike "soft" or "French" pastel sticks, which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder...
(also called oilstick). Some of his work was done using rather dark values, especially a number of landscapes painted largely in blue and purple tones. Generally, however, Zwiebel was known for the vibrancy of his palette
Palette (painting)
A palette , in the original sense of the word, is a rigid, flat surface on which a painter arranges and mixes paints. A palette is usually made of wood, plastic, ceramic, or other hard, inert, nonporous material, and can vary greatly in size and shape...
, as evidenced, for example, in the following press review (entitled "Optimism Expressed in Color"):
Style and Influences
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, particularly Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
. He felt the deepest affinity for Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
. The individual artists by whom he was most strongly influenced were Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
(like Monet, he was fascinated by water lilies and made a great number of paintings of them), Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas . His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as he was the only artist to exhibit in both forms...
, Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
, and, in his flower paintings, Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon
Bertrand-Jean Redon, better known as Odilon Redon was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist.-Life:...
. When asked to which stylistic movement he felt he most belonged, he replied, "An artist must be free to work in whatever style the moment calls for, but if anything, I would call myself a modern impressionist."
Although some of his paintings are more post-impressionistic or even expressionistic in style, most art critics who reviewed his work also called him an Impressionist:
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
pond, a cabbage patch in Scarsdale
Scarsdale
Scarsdale could be*Scarsdale, New York, a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States, for which The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet is named...
, have much of the beauty of the great landscapes of Monet and Pissarro."
"Zwiebel has a capacity of feeling as turbulent as van Gogh, as soft as Turner
Turner
Turner is a common surname of English 12th Century origin, meaning "one who works with a lathe". Turner is the 28th-most common surname in the United Kingdom.-List of people with surname Turner:...
, and as impressionistic as Monet."
"Alfred Zwiebel uses the impressionistic technique with all its wealth of light, nuanced play of color, and open palette, and this breathes life into what he paints. ... One could call Zwiebel a belated Pissarro, but with the caveat that he is a Pissarro for contemporary eyes."
"Zwiebel has often been called a 'modern impressionist.' His works, with all their nuances of light and richness of palate [sic], are predominantly impressionistic in style although they also have a uniquely individual expressionist character, wherein the inner essence of a subject is more important than its outward form."
Later Years and Death
Zwiebel continued to paint until the end of his life, although in his later years he had to struggle with failing eyesight and loss of color perception due to cataracts, as well as with Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in New York City at the age of 90.
External links
- Painters of the World by Nationality - The Art History Archive (see under "American Painters")
- AskART - Art Prices, Art Appraisals, Art Value, Auction Prices
- Zwiebel, Alfred; Pastel on Linen, signed, Still Life with Vase of Flowers. [p4a.com, ltd.]
- Alfred Zwiebel, "Water Lilies," Oil on Board
- Oil on Canvas by Alfred Zwiebel, "Impressionistic French Scene" , In the
- Oil on Board by Alfred Zwiebel, "French Country Scene", in the Manner of
- 87th Street Art: Artist Index