German artist Georg Richter-Lössnitz was a multi-talented artist who found himself inspired by the developments in art across Europe in the late 19th- and early 20th-Centuries.

Richter-Lössnitz lived and worked for all his life in his birth town of Dresden. Here he attended the Dresden Academy of Art. Founded in 1764, the Academy was one of the oldest and most respected institutes for art education in Germany. Richter-Lössnitz could have perhaps not attended a better place for the encouragement of his passion.

Whilst studying at the Academy, he became a student of Carl Bantzer (1857-1941). Bantzer had been much influenced by the development of the impressionistic style of painting in France, and he spread this to his students. Richter-Lössnitz was hooked.

Richter-Lössnitz certainly had a passion for his homeland. He added the second part of his surname, ‘Lössnitz,’ to honour the birthplace of his parents, southeast a little while from Dresden. He is also very keen on capturing scenes of country life, such as a forest festival in Kamenz. The emotional, evocative spirit of impressionism, therefore, must surely have appealed to this passion.

His landscapes capture the heady heat of summer or the bitter chill of winter. Scenes of rolling hills with villages inset peacefully in their palm are awash with gentle pastels which cast a whimsical haze over the view. The heat of summer days filled with pastoral peace can almost be felt through the canvas. Skirts are crumpled through the crisp lines of a brush as girls hold them up to paddle upon the shores of the River Elbe. Their shadows cast damp patches upon sun-baked pebbles.

Such energy is carried over into Richter-Lössnitz’s portraits. The bold brushmarks from which he carves a woman’s fine features add a deeper sense of character to her smiling face.

The blush flush in her cheeks is emphasised, her arms gracefully rest in her lap. Indeed, a study of children playing with toys is bursting with bubbling, childish glee, caught in their smiles, their wonder.

As well as painting, Richter-Lössnitz worked in a wide range of artistic practices. He was for a time an interior designer, a path which surely must have helped the painting of the interior scenes he would often depict. He also worked as a book illustrator and commercial artist. The porcelain company Teichart Works ran a number of his designs.

It seems clear how Richter-Lössnitz was able to ensure an income for his work throughout his life whilst not moving away to find fortune elsewhere. He did not have to chase where the art business was thriving. Instead, he had only to turn his natural talents to a different medium to ensure continued business.

A number of his works are now held in the Saxon Army Museum and the Museum of Prints and Drawings in Germany.

1891

Born in Leipzig.

1905-1907

Studied at the School of Applied Arts, Dresden.

1910-1913

Studied at the Dresden Art Academy.

1912

Designed and built house in Kötzschenbroda, Dresden.

1938

Died in Besigheim.