Theo von Brockhusen. A German late impressionist / Theo von Brockhusen. Ein deutscher Spätimpressionist
Theo von Brockhusen was born on 16 July 1882 in Marggrabowa (East Prussia) as the fourth child of the district judge and lawyer Theodor von Brockhusen and his wife Magda, née Hillmann. From 1897/98 to 1903, Brockhusen studied at the academy in Königsberg under the renowned artists Ludwig Dettmann, Olof August Andreas Jernberg and Max Schmidt, where he had already discovered plein-air painting. His close friendship with the painter Waldemar Rösler began during this time. Theo von Brockhusen and Waldemar Rösler, Arthur Degner, Franz Domscheit and Alfred Partikel repeatedly travelled from Königsberg to Klein Kuhren.
The young artists founded the Klein Kuhren artists’ circle there. At that time, Klein Kuhren was an artists’ village whose landscape offered the best conditions for the young painters: In the north of the Samland, a fertile plateau fifty to sixty metres high, lay the steep coastline criss-crossed by ravines. A dune path led from fishing village to fishing village. Brockhusen moved to Berlin in 1904, and from 1906 he exhibited regularly at the Secession. From then on, he exhibited at least once a year at collective exhibitions in Paul Cassirer’s Salon. The influence of Vincent van Gogh, who was frequently shown there, was already beginning to influence Brockhusen at this time.
The exhibition will trace Brockhusen’s life and art in exemplary fashion. Above all, however, it will emphasise his importance as an innovator of landscape painting in the Mark Brandenburg region, with his influence extending far beyond regional references. With Theo von Brockhusen, the Schwaan Art Museum is also presenting one of the most important representatives of the Ferch artists’ colony.
