MASSMANN, HANS (1887-1973)

"Stube In Die Tirol (Room In The Tyrol)" (1924) 
oil on board
68 x 79cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Sydney
 
Massmann is a forgotten Romanian-born Austrian Painter, & friend, muse & contemporary of iconic modern artist, Egon Schiele. He was born in Bucharest, Romania, but relocated to Vienna, Austria to pursue a career in the Arts. He was accepted into the Academy Of Fine Arts under Professor Christian Griepenkerl. Amongst his classmates included another foreigner, Czech expat Egon Schiele, & the two became friends. At the same time Massmann & Schiele were accepted in the Academy, Griepenkerl rejected another young prospect, Adolf Hitler. After studying painting for a few years under Griepenkerl, Schiele & Massmann grew tired of the traditional methods & techniques instigated at the Academy, & felt their freedom and creativity as artists were being stifled. In response, in the summer of 1909, Schiele made his feelings known in the form of a booklet of his grievances to the instructors and as a result was immediately expelled. Schiele lead an exodus with 15 other students, including Massmann, to create the Neukunstgruppe (New Art Group) inspired by the work of the Vienna Secession. The group held regular exhibitions between 1909-12, & included other artists such as Oskar Kokoshka. “The 'New Art Group' did not arise from any consideration of a practical, art-political or particularly aesthetic nature, it is not a speculative foundation & is not dominated by the desire to set a 'school', but rather it came together unintentionally, so to speak, through an act of self-defense that the academy forced upon her.” Schiele's "Portrait Of Hans Massmann" was produced as part of a series of incomplete portraits of fellow members for the first exhibition in 1909. He only managed portraits of Massmann & Peschka, immortalizing them in a style reminiscent of Gustav Klimt. Following the groups' dissolution in 1912, Massmann established himself as a respected landscape painter. He favoured traditional panoramic vistas of the Alps, particularly in the Tyrol area. From 1919 Massmann was a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus where he exhibited regularly.