Aloys Wach

Aloys Wach or Aloys Ludwig Wachelmayr (sometimes Wachelmeier, April 30, 1892 – April 18, 1940) was an Austrian expressionist painter and graphic artist. He was born in Lambach, Upper Austria and died in Braunau, Upper Austria. While his birth places him close to the generation that laid the foundations of modern art and especially expressionism, his life as an artist, however, began after cubism, futurism and the expressionists of the Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke movements had initiated a time of great changes. In his later life, Wach abandoned his artistic roots and distanced himself from his early expressionist works by turning to religious imagery. Today, however, those early works are seen as his greatest accomplishments.

Wach decided to become an artist early on in his life, and already arrived in Vienna at the young age of 17, but initially suffered a series of setbacks. He was rejected as a student by the Academy in Munich and attempted unsuccessfully to study art in Vienna. He received formal education at the Knirr-Sailer painting school in Munich as well as, in 1913, at Académie Colarossi in Paris. He finished his studies with Heinrich Altherr in Stuttgart.

In 1912, he briefly moved to Berlin. There, he met painter and graphic artist Jacob Steinhardt, who encouraged him to abandon older forms of expression and be courageous in the search for his own style. Wach was also confronted with the activities at the just opened Der Sturm Galerie, the German center of expressionism. Although it is not known for certain, he also probably saw the Blaue Reiter Exhibition and the first exhibits of the futurist movement.

He then moved on to Paris, where he stayed from 1913 to 1914. He befriended Amedeo Modigliani and got introduced to some of the painters at Bateau-Lavoir. He must also have seen work by Robert Delaunay. He quickly understood the importance of the new structures in painting. In that period, he created mainly expressionist-cubist drawings, etchings and wood carvings. During his stay in Paris, he also met his most important friend and supporter, Ernest L. Tross, whom he should meet again in Vienna (1919) and Munich (1931).

Wach served in World War I in non-combative assignments. In 1916/7, he published seven woodcuts to accompany a poem by F.R. Zenz, Kriegstotentanz 1914.

1919-1920 wood carving cycle "Der verlorene Sohn". From 1920 he created expressionist still lifes, landscape paintings and portraits in Braunau, but later distanced himself from paintings of this period.

1956 posthumous exhibitions with graphics in Hollywood and at the Country Museum in Los Angeles. Was not allowed to paint during the Nazi regime. Created two windows for hospital church in Braunau.

External links

1. Wach, Aloys at www.aeiou.at Aloys Wach at aeiou.at

References

1. Aloys Wach (1892-1940), Kataloge des OÖ. Landesmuseums, Linz 1993; ISBN 3-900746-61-3
2. Aloys Wach Paris Munich 1914 1919, Brandt Dayton (exhibition catalogue), New York 1991; especially "Introduction" by Peter W. Guenther
3. Die Österreichischen Maler der Geburtsjahrgänge 1881-1900 Vol. 2, M-Z, Heinrich Fuchs, Vienna 1977; OCLC 2816001