Alfred Bernert, Mutter mit Kind

Description

‘Mutter mit Kind’ (‘Mother with Child’)
Displayed at the Sächsiche Kunstausstellung Dresden, 1934.
By Alfred Bernert, Blood and Soil painter in heart and sole.

‘In meinem Staat ist die Mutter die wichtigste Staatsbürgerin’
Adolf Hitler, speech to the National Socialist Women’s League on September 8, 1934, Nürnberg.

Left: Alfred Bernert, ‘Mutter mit Kind‘ (‘Mother and Child‘), 1933. Displayed at the ‘Sächsiche Kunstausstellung’, Dresden, 1934. Depicted in the official exhibition catalogue.
Right: cover of the exhibition catalogue ‘Sächsische Kunstausstellung’, Dresden, 1934.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Mutter mit Kind‘. This foto was found in the archives of the ‘Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden‘, the Library oft he University of Dresden. The text below the photo reads:
‘Mutter mit Kind‘
‘Oil, 1933‘
‘Previously in the possession of the artist‘.

– condition	: II
– size	: 126 x 104 cm, unframed 105 x 83 cm
– signed	: left, under
– type	: oil on canvas

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BIOGRAPHY: ALFRED BERNERT

‘In meinem Staat ist die Mutter die wichtigste Staatsbürgerin’
Adolf Hitler, speech to the National Socialist Women’s League on September 8, 1934, Nürnberg.

‘In meinem Staate ist die Mutter die wichtigste Staatsbürgerin. Was der Mann an Opfern bringt im Ringen seines Volkes, bringt die Frau an Opfern im Ringen um die Erhaltung dieses Volkes in den einzelnen Zellen. Was der Mann einsetzt an Heldenmut auf dem Schlachtfeld, setzt die Frau ein in ewig geduldiger Hingabe, in ewig geduldigem Leiden und Ertragen. Jedes Kind, das sie zur Welt bringt, ist eine Schlacht, die sie besteht für Sein oder Nichtsein ihres Volkes’.
‘In my state the mother is the most important civilian. The sacrifices which the man makes in the struggle of his nation, the woman makes in the preservation of that nation in individual cases. What the man gives in courage on the battlefield, the woman gives in eternal self-sacrifice, in eternal pain and suffering. Every child that a woman brings into the world is a battle, a battle waged for the existence of her people’.

Left: ‘Mutter mit Kind’ by Alfred Bernert, signed 1934. Depicted on a postcard of the ‘NS Frauenschaft’. The text on the back reads: ‘Die NS. Frauenschaft ist die Organisation, in der die Nationalsozialistische Frau für Adolf Hitler kämpft’ (‘The NS Frauenschaft is the organisation of the National Socialist Women who fight for Adolf Hitler’. The text below the photo reads: ‘In meinem Staat ist die Mutter die wichtigste Staatsbürgerin’, Adolf Hitler (‘In my staat the mother is the most important civilian’, Adolf Hitler).
Right: Alfred Bernert, ‘Mutter mit Kind’ (‘Mother and Child’) depicted in the book ‘N.S. Frauenbuch’, J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, München, 1934 (‘Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Obersten Leitung der P.O., N.S. Frauenschaft’).

Left: ‘Mutter mit Kind’ by Alfred Bernert, depicted in a German schoolbook, ‘Weimarer Republik und NS-Staat’, Buchners Verlag, 2000, by Bernhard Pfändtner.
Right: ‘Mutter mit Kind’ by Bernert, depicted twice in the magazin ‘NS-Frauen-Warte’, October and December 1935.

Photo of ‘Das Haus der Reichsfrauenführung’ (the headquarters of the ‘National Women’s Leadership’ located in the Derfflingerstrasse in Berlin). Depicted in the ‘Illustrirte Zeitung, Leipzig’, 2 December 1937. At the back a large board with the text: ‘In meinem Staat ist die Mutter die Wichtigste Staatsbürgerin’.

Left: Alfred Bernert, ‘Gleichklang’ (‘Harmony’), depicted in the book ‘N.S. Frauenbuch’, J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, München, 1934 (‘Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Obersten Leitung der P.O., N.S. Frauenschaft’).
Right: ‘Gang zur Scholle‘ (‘Going to the fields‘, also named ‘Harmony‘). This foto was found in the archives of the ‘Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden‘, the Library oft he University of Dresden. The text below the photo reads:
‘Gang zur Scholle‘
‘Oil, 1933‘
‘Previously in the possession of the artist‘.

‘Gleichklang’ hanging in a classroom of the ‘Bauernschule Zinnwald Georgenfeld’ (Sachsen). Depicted in ‘Odal, Monatschrift für Blut und Boden’, 1941, published by Walther-Darré.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Mutter und Kind‘ and ‘Gleichklang‘, 1933. Depicted in Mortimer G. Davidson, Kunst in Deutschland, 1991.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Ernterast’ (‘Rest from Harvest’). Depicted in ‘Der Schwäbische Heimatskalender, Dorfskalender für das Land Württenberg’, 1941, NS-Kurier Verlag.

Left: Alfred Bernert, ‘Helmut mit dem Speer’ (‘Helmut with the Javelin’), created 1933. In the possession of the Galerie der Moderne (Kunsthistorischen Museum Görlitz), which displayed this painting in 2015. Size: 110 x 90 cm.
Right: Alfred Bernert, ‘Helmut mit Speer’ (‘Hemut with Javelin’), drawing. Size 77 x 48 cm.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Erntezeit und Junge Liebe’ (‘Harvest Season and Young Love’). Depicted in ‘Odal, Monatschrift für Blut und Boden’, 1941, published by Walther-Darré.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Junge Siedler’ (‘Young Settlers’), depicted in die ‘NS-Frauenkalander’, 1936, Verlag Franz Eher Nachf.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Ernte’ (‘Harvest’), depicted in die ‘NS-Frauenkalander’, 1936, Verlag Franz Eher Nachf.

Alfred Bernert, ‘Wogendes Korn‘ (‘Wind moving Grain‘). Displayed at the Sächsiche Kunstausstellung Dresden, 1934. Again dispayed at the exhibition ‘Deutscher Bauern – Deutsches Land’, January/ February 1938, Berlin. Size 94 x 63 cm.

Works by Bernert after 1945:

Alfred Bernert, ‘Krieg und Frieden‘ (‘War and Piece‘), large size painting which hung for many years in the hospital of Herrnhut. Created in 1966.

Left: Alfred Bernert, ‘Portrait of Henrik Verwoerd‘. In 1974 Bernert was commissioned by the Czech economist Dr. Karl Janovsky to create a portrait of Hendrik Verwoerd, the former Prime Minster of South Africa who was assassinated in 1966. Janovsky, a great admirer of Verwoerd (the architect of the Apartheid regime in South Africa) gave this portrait to Verwoerd’s widow.
Right: Alfred Bernert, ‘Portrait of Hendrik Verwoerdt’, depicted on the cover of the book ‘Stokkiesdraai’ by Marië van Heerden, Pretoria, 1984.

Left: Alfred Berner, ‘Sitzender Frauenakt’ (‘Sitting Nude’). Signed 1973. Size 71 x 51 cm.
Right: Alfred Berner, ‘Junge Frau am Strand’ (‘Young woman at the beach’). Signed 1961. Size 50 x 40 cm.

Alfred Bernert, Blood and Soil painter in heart and sole
Alfred Bernert (1893–1991), son of a German farmer, was born is Dönis, which is nowadays the city of Hrádek nad Nisou in the Czech Republic. Bernert served in World War I where he was severely wounded and lost his right leg. In 1918, after his marriage, he moved to Bad Oppelsdorf (now Poland). He received a study grant from the state which enabled him to study at the Technischen Hochschule in Prague and at the Karls University in Prague. Bernert painted portraits and landscapes, but became later also known for his Blud und Boden (Blood and Soil) depictions. Some of these -including ‘Mother and Child’ and ‘Harmony’, both created in 1933- are still very popular on the internet in 2017.
His first success was the exhibition of three works (‘Die Ernte’, ‘Frauenbildnis’ and ‘Der Skilaufer’) at the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung 1923; all three paintings were sold on the first day of the exhibition. He attended a study course in Sweden, later exhibited as member of the Metznerbund (association of German-speaking artists in the Czech Republik, the ‘Sudetendeutsche’) at the Grosse Kunstausstellung 1927, XLVIII. Jahresausstellung der Genossenschaft der Bildenden Künstler, Vienna. In 1934, at the Sächsiche Kunstausstellung Dresden, Bernert –member of the N.S. Fachschaft (NS-trade union) displayed the works ‘Mutter mit Kind‘, ‘Ernte‘, ‘Wogendes Korn‘ and ‘Mutter‘. ‘Wogendes Korn’ was displayed again in 1938 at the exhibition ‘Deutscher Bauern – Deutsches Land’ in Berlin (‘Ausstellung unter der Schirmherrschaft von Reichsbauernführer Reichsminister R. Walther Darré und Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg’).
At the end of the Second World War, in June 1945, Bernert and his family fled across the border to the city of Herrnhut in Germany (NB Dönis, Bad Oppeldorf and Herrnhut are currently situated in three different countries, but they are located within a 40 kilometers radius). His first commissioned work was a portrait of the Sovjet Stadtkommandant of the city of Herrnhut. For the next 46 years, until his death, Bernert continued painting portraits and landscapes. In 1966 he created the large size ‘Krieg und Frieden’ (‘War and Peace’), which hung for many years in the hospital of Herrnhut. In 1974 Bernert was commissioned by the Czech economist Dr. Karl Janovsky to create a portrait of Hendrik Verwoerd, the former Prime Minster of South Africa who was assassinated in 1966. Janovsky, a great admirer of Verwoerd (the architect of the Apartheid regime in South Africa) gave this portrait to Verwoerd’s widow. The work is depicted on the cover of the book ‘Stokkiesdraai’ by Marië van Heerden, Pretoria, 1984.
Alfred Bernert died in 1991 in the city of Herrnhut.
In 2011/12 a special exhibition with 36 works by Bernert was held in the Heimatsmuseum Herrnhut. Three years later works by Bernert were shown in the exhibition ‘Gesichter – Portraits aus drei Jahrhunderten’ organized by the same museum. In 2015 the Galerie der Moderne (Kunsthistorischen Museum Görlitz) displayed the work ‘Helmut mit dem Speer’, created in 1933 by Bernert. In the same year paintings by Alfred Bernert were shown in the exhibition ‘Mitten im krieg’, Städtische Museen Zittau.