Hugo Kehrer

Hugo Ludwig Kehrer (27 April 1876 – 3 January 1967) was a German art historian.

Life

Hugo Kehrer was born on 27 April 1876 in Giessen, the son of gynecologist Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer and Emmy (1849–1924), née Frisch, daughter of the Darmstadt animal painter Friedrich Frisch [de]. After graduating from high school in Heidelberg, Kehrer initially pursued a career as an army officer and attended the Danzig Military Academy. After graduating, he served as an officer in a Baden Grenadier Regiment until 1901.

In 1900, he switched careers and began studying art history, Protestant theology, and philosophy at Heidelberg University under Henry Thode, Kuno Fischer, Friedrich von Duhn, Karl Neumann, Adalbert Merx, and Ernst Troeltsch, before receiving his doctorate in 1903. In 1904, Kehrer passed his first theological examination at the University of Karlsruhe. He then continued his studies at the Marburg University under Hermann Cohen and Paul Natorp in the same year, and finally, from 1905 to 1908, at the University of Strasbourg under Georg Dehio, Adolf Michaelis, and Johannes Ficker [de]. After further studies at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin, he qualified as a professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 1909 on the recommendation of Heinrich Wölfflin, publishing his work on "The Three Magi in Literature and Art" (2 volumes, 1908), which remains fundamental to this day. He subsequently stayed in Rome until 1910 on a travelling scholarship from the German Archaeological Institute.

Kehrer's first of thirteen trips to Spain took place in 1909, beginning the decisive impact of Spanish art on his academic career. From 1911 to 1912/13, he taught art history at the Women's Academy of the Munich Artists' Association. Finally, from 1915 to 1945, he taught as an associate professor of Medieval and Modern Art History at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

Kehrer joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) on 1 May 1933 (membership number 1929687). ). He dedicated his 1938 study, "Greco as a Figure of Mannerism," to "the glorious liberator of Spain," General Francisco Franco.

In Munich in 1919, Kehrer married Katharina Knauer (1885-1966), who was the daughter of Ernst Wilhelm Christian Knauer, which union produced a daughter and a son. He died in Munich on 3 January 1967 at the age of 90.

Work

Hugo Kehrer was one of the discoverers of El Greco in his ‘’(1912 Special College)’’ and, along with August Liebmann Mayer, one of the most important interpreters of Spanish painting, enjoying international renown as a connoisseur. His writings are distinguished by their vividness, based on his intuitive grasp of the artistry and remarkable use of language, as well as by their clear vision and succinct historiographic analysis.

Selected publications

References

  1. ↑ Yvette Deseyve: Der Künstlerinnen-Verein München e.V. und seine Damenakademie. Eine Studie zur Ausbildungssituation von Künstlerinnen im späten 19. und frühen 20. Jahrhundert (= Kunstwissenschaften. Bd. 12). Herbert Utz Verlag, München 2005, ISBN 3-8316-0479-7, S. 199.
  2. ↑ Bundesarchiv R 9361-IX KARTEI/19610890
  3. ↑ Nikola Doli, Ruth Heftrig, Olaf Peters, Ulrich Rehm (Hrsg.): Kunstgeschichte nach 1945: Kontinuität und Neubeginn in Deutschland. Böhlau, Bonn 2006, ISBN 3-412-00406-5, S. 25 (online).

This article is based on a translation of an equivalent article called de:Hugo Kehrer.