Osmar Schindler
Osmar Schindler (1867-1927) was a German artist. His father died, so his uncle supported sending him to the Dresden Art Academy. One of his fellow students was Sascha Schneider, whom we have seen in a previous post. In 1900 Schindler became a Professor at the Dresden Art Academy.
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Some of his work showed Impressionist influence, like Musterung (1887), depicting a German military examination of naked recruits.
Another impressionistic painting is Nude Young Man with a Red Hat Near a Pond, 1898.
One of his best known works is an 1888 lithograph of David and Goliath. In 1926 he redid it as a painting, above, with David even more scantily clad than in the lithograph. Note the clouds in the background. Schindler made many paintings of clouds that have been called impressionist masterpieces.
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But most of his work is in a photo-realist style. We've previously seen this painting of the German mythic hero Siegfried, c. 1900. Why is Siegfried naked? Although Schindler painted landscapes and portraits of clothed men and women, he seems to have had a special interest in naked men.
This is Muskeln (Muscles), 1907. Although not nude, it could hardly be more homoerotic. The men surrounding the guy showing off his muscles are not looking at him with admiration. They're appraising him like a piece of meat.
In addition to his paintings, Schindler made many drawings, and almost all of them are of nude men. This is Männlicher Akt (Male Nude), 1884.
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This is Männlicher Rückenakt (stehend), 1890. The name was translated on several websites as Male Supine Nude (standing), which is stupid. He's not supine, and you can't be both supine and standing. The German name actually translates as Male Nude from the back (standing).
This is Männlicher Akt mit Zeichenbrett (Male Nude with Drawing Board), 1894. Although not labeled as such, I wonder if it's a self-portrait of Schindler at age 27.
We close with War Furies, 1914. World War I had broken out, and this is a clear depiction of war as Hell. An easily overlooked detail is that the source of the flames of Hell at the bottom of the picture, and therefore the source of evil, is a gun.
7 comments:
The last picture is very spot-on. War is naked hatred, naked aggression, and, in the end, naked stupidity.
I really like his work.
Siegfried is naked (just as in the famous silent film) because he has just killed the dragon, and he was advised that if he bathed in the dragon's blood, he would be able to understand the language of birds, one of which informed him on how he could get to the mountain top where Brunnhilde lay asleep. I'm not making this up you know.
You're right. Perhaps I should have asked why Schindler chose to paint that moment in Siegfried's story, rather than, say, the moment when he awakens Brunnhilde. Why? Because he like to paint naked men.
A better literal translation for "Männlicher Rückenakt (stehend)" is "Male nude from the back (standing)" or a more subtle version "A Standing male full back" (as we use full frontal to denote a fully naked man or woman seen from the front)
Another comment: the blonde long haired man at the picture center in "Muskeln (Muscles)" is VERY attractive. He could walk now around any German city with the clothes he is using and would blend perfectly
I like your translation better and I have updated the photo caption.
very omoerotic art for sure!
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