 |
 |
||||
Description
‘Erbhofbauer’ (‘Hereditary Farmer’)
In 1934, one year after the Nazi ‘Reichserbhofgesetz’ (‘the Hereditary Farm Law’), Tiebert created his masterpiece ‘Erbhofbauer’, depicting an owner of an ‘Erbhof’, a hereditary farm which had been, undivided, passed on from father to the eldest son since 1800.
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert can be seen as Germany’s counterpart to Grand Wood’s ‘American Gothic’ (according to the Royal Academy of Arts ‘probably the most famous American painting in the world’).
Displayed at the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1938 room 11.
Displayed at the exhibition ‘Die Auslese I’, 1934, Berlin, NS-Kulturgemeinde.
Painting had been lost for 7 decades.
A second (smaller) version of ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert is since 1934 in the possession of the Städtische Galerie München; this work was displayed at the exhibition ‘Heroische Kunst’ 1936, München, NS-Kulturgemeinde, and at the ‘Wanderausstellung Württembergischer Künstler’, Badische Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 1935.
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert (first version) was depicted in:
– ‘Deutsche Kunst der Gegenwart’, Breslau, 1943;
– ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1938;
– the ‘Stuttgarter Illustrierte’, 27 July 1938;
– ‘Säuberung des Kunsttempels’, Wolfgang Willrich‘, 1937;
– the ‘Hessische Landeszeitung’, January 30, 1937;
– ‘Das Bauerliche Jahr’, 1937;
– the ‘Rheinische-Westfällische Zeitung’, March 29, 1936;
– ‘Das Bild’, 1935;
– ‘Wille und Macht’, Heft 13. 1 July 1934;
– ‘Nationalsozialistische Monatshefte’, Heft 57, 1934.
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, GDK 1938 room 11.
Backside of the painting: the original sticker of the Great German Art Exhibition.
Left: on the back of the painting also the remains of a sticker of ‘Gustav Knauer’, the Berlin based transport company that worked closely with the Nazi’s and that, i.a., organized the transports of confiscated degenerated art.
‘Erbhofbauer’, Germany’s counterpart to Grand Wood’s ‘American Gothic’ (according to the Royal Academy of Arts ‘probably the most famous American painting in the world’).
Right: ‘American Gothic’, 1930, by Grand Wood. Size 78 x 63 cm. ‘American Gothic came to be seen as a depiction of the steadfast American pioneer spirit…..….Wood intended the painting to depict the farmer and his daughter as survivors, to pay homage to the strength of the rural community, and to provide reassurance in a time of great economic upset..’. The painting is in the possession of the Art Institute of Chicago.
American Gothic is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It depicts a farmer standing beside his daughter – often mistakenly assumed to be his wife. The painting’s name is a word play on the house’s architectural style, Carpenter Gothic. The woman is dressed in a colonial print apron evoking 20th-century rural America while the man is adorned in overall covered by a suit jacket and carries a pitchfork. American Gothic is one of the most familiar images of 20th-century American art and has been widely parodied in American popular culture. From 2016 to 2017, the painting was displayed in Paris at the Musée de l’Orangerie and in London at the Royal Academy of Arts in its first showings outside the United States.
Reichserbhofgesetz
The Reichserbhofgesetz, the Hereditary Farm Law of 1933, was a Nazi law to implement principles of blood and soil, stating that its aim was to: ‘preserve the farming community as the blood-source of the German people’. As farmers appeared in Nazi ideology as a source of economics and racial stability, the law was implemented to protect them from the forces of modernization.
Any farm of at least one Ackernahrung, an area of land large enough to support a family and evaluated from 7.5 to 125 hectares (19–309 acres), was declared an Hereditary Farm (Erbhof), to pass from father to son, without the possibility to be mortgaged or alienated. Only those peasants were entitled to call themselves ‘Farmers’ (Bauern), a term the Nazis attempted to refurbish from a neutral or even pejorative to a positive term. A Greater Aryan certificate was required to receive its benefits, similar to the requirements for becoming a member of the Nazi Party. Farms too small could become an Hereditary farm by combination, and larger farms would have to be subdivided.
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1938.
Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Das Bild’, 1935.
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, depicted in the exhibition catalogue of ‘Die Auslese I’, 1934, Berlin, NS-Kulturgemeinde.
‘Erbhofbauer‘ by Tiebert, depicted in black and white in the exhibition cataloque ‘Kunst im 3. Reich, Dokumente der Unterwerfung‘, Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1974. At the time of this exhibition, 1974, the painting was still missing.
‘Erbhofbauer‘ by Tiebert, depicted in the exhibition catalogue of ‘Kunst Oberschwaben 20. Jahrhundert, Ein Schwierige Erbe, 1933 – 1945’, by Uwe Degreif, 2014. At the time of this exhibition, 2014, the painting was still missing.
Left: ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Säuberung des Kunsttempels’ (‘Cleaning the Art Temples’), by Wolfgang Willrich, München/Berlin, 1937. Tiebert’s work is shown here as an example of pure German art as antipole to degenerated art.
Right: ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Wille und Macht’, Heft 13, 1934.
Right: ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, picture shown in the article ‘Kampf um die Kunst’ by Alfred Rosenberg, published in the ‘Nationalsozialistische Monatshefte’, Heft 57, 1934. 
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Deutsche Kunst der Gegenwart’, Breslau, 1943.
‘Erbhofbauer’, depicted in ‘Das Bauerliche Jahr’, 1937.
Second Version
A second (smaller) version of ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert is since 1934 in the possession of the Städtische Galerie München; this work was displayed at the exhibition ‘Heroische Kunst’ 1936, München, NS-Kulturgemeinde, and at the ‘Wanderausstellung Württembergischer Künstler’, Badische Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 1935. It is assumable that its original name was ‘Deutsche Bauer’, signed 1933, but that the work later served as substitute on exhibitions for the original painting ‘Erbhofbauer’, which had been sold.
Left: second version of ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, displayed at the exhibition ‘Heroische Kunst’, 1936, München (listed in the exhibition cataloque as ‘in possession of the Städtische Galerie München’). Depicted in ‘Kunst und Volk’ 1936, page 218.
Middle: the second version depicted in ‘Münchener Maler im 19./20. Jahrhundert’, Bruckmann, 1994. Signed on top, left. Size 57 x 44 cm. The text below the photo reads ‘München, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus’.
Right: the second version depicted in ‘Das Bild’, page 125, 1934.
‘Erbhofbauer’, second version, displayed during the exhibition ’ART AND LIFE, 1918 TO 1955’, 2022/23, Lenbachhaus, München. Size 57 x 44 cm. 
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 63 x 51 cm |
| – signed | : left, on top |
| – type | : oil on wood |
============================================ § ============================================
BIOGRAPHY: HERMANN TIEBERT
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Schäfer von der Alb‘ (‘Shepherd from the Swabian Alb‘). Postcard. Since 1936 in the possession of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. Size 45 x 39 cm.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Schwabenmädchen‘ (‘Girl from Swabia‘), GDK 1942 room 39. Sold for 1,500 Reichsmark. Depicted on the cover of ‘Frauen-Warte’, July 1943.
‘Filatrice di Echtterdingen’ (app. al signor Wilhelm Leonhardt)
‘Filatrice di Echterdingen’ (‘Echterdinger Spinnerin’ or ‘Spinner from Echterdingen’), displayed at the ‘XXI Esposizione Biennale Internazionale D’Arte’, 1938 -XVI. Also displayed at the GDK 1937 room 35.
Depicted on postcards, and on ‘Der Schwäbische Heimatkalender 1938’. 
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Vorarlberger Bauer’ (‘Farmer from Vorarlberg’), GDK 1940 room 37. Bought by Martin Bormann for 3,500 Reichsmark. In the possession of the Pinakothek der Moderne. Size 76 x 60 cm.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Walsertalerin‘ (‘Girl from Walsertal’). Displayed at the GDK 1937 room 17. The text below the picture reads: ‘In the possession of Reichsminister Dr. Goebbels’. Depicted in ‘Das Bild’ 1938, page 47. 
‘Walsertalerin’ by Tiebert, depicted in the article ‘Deutsche Kunst und Entartete Kunst’ published in ‘Jugend’, Heft 52, 1937. ‘Walsertalerin‘ is shown here as an example of pure German art in juxtaposition to ‘Die Braut‘ by Werner Scholz, 1930. The painting is lost.
‘Walsertalerin‘ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Deutsche Kunst und Entartete Kunst‘, München, 1938. ‘Walsertalerin‘ is shown here again as an example of pure German art in juxtaposition to ‘Frauenbildnis’ by Christian Rohlfs and ‘Die Braut‘ by Werner Scholz, 1930.
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Mädchen aus dem Bregenzerwald’ (‘Girl form the Bregenzer Forest’), GDK 1939 room 35. Postcard.
Right: ‘Mädchen aus dem Bregenzerwald’, depicted on ‘Der Schwäbische Heimatkalender’, 1944.
‘Mädchen aus dem Bregenzerwald’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Das Bild’, April 1942. The text below the picture reads: ‘second version of the artist’. 
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Jägerbildnis‘ (‘Portrait of a Hunter‘), 1929. Displayed at the GDK 1940 room 37. Bought by Hitler for 2,500 Reichsmark. In the possession of the German Historical Museum. Size 68 x 55 cm. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne’, Weimar, 1999.
Right: ‘Jägerbildnis’, displayed at the exhibition ‘Die Auslese’, NS-Kulturgemeinde, 1934, Berlin. Depicted in ‘Das Bild‘, page 395, 1934. 
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Meine Frau und Ich’ (‘Me and my Wife’, 1923, size 101 x 71 cm, oil on wood), and the second version of ‘Erbhofbauer’, displayed during the exhibition ’ART AND LIFE, 1918 TO 1955’, 2022/23, Lenbachhaus, München.
Middle: ‘Meine Frau und Ich’ by Tiebert, depicted in ‘Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte’, 1927. Again depicted in ‘Westermanns Monatshefte’, April, 1936.
Right: ‘Sebstbildnis mit der Gattin’, depicted in ‘Das Bild’, page 124, 1938. 
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Jungbäuerin’ (‘Young Female Farmer’), 1940. Postcard. The original work is in the possession of the ‘Landwirtschaftliche Zentrum Baden-Württemberg – Wangen‘. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst Oberschwaben, -Ein schwieriges Erbe, 1933 – 1945‘, 2014. Depicted in the exhibition cataloque. Size 74 x 58 cm.
Right: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Jungbauer’ (‘Young Farmer’), 1940. In the possession of the ‘Landwirtschaftliche Zentrum Baden-Württemberg – Wangen‘. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst Oberschwaben, -Ein schwieriges Erbe, 1933 – 1945‘, 2014. Depicted in the exhibition cataloque. Size 74 x 58 cm.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Der Wildschütz’ (‘The Poacher‘). The text below the picture reads: ’In the possession of Reichsminister Dr. Frick. Published in 1938.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Bauer mit Zipfelmütze‘ (‘Farmer with traditional Cap‘) or ‘Schwäbische Bauer‘ (‘Farmer from Schwabia‘), GDK 1941 room 37.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Betzinger Mädchen‘ (‘Girl from Betzingen‘), displayed at the GDK 1942 room 37.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Albbauer’ (‘Farmer from the Swabian Alb’), 1941. In the possession of the ‘Landkreis Ravensburg‘. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst Oberschwaben, -Ein schwieriges Erbe, 1933 – 1945‘, 2014. Depicted in the exhibition cataloque. Size 49 x 40 cm.
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Schwäbischer Bauer‘ (‘Farmer from Swabia‘), displayed at the exhibition ‘Deutsche Bauer – Deutsches Land’, organised by the Reichsleiters Walter Darré and Alfred Rosenberg, 1938. Depicted in ‘Nationalsozialistische Monatshefte’, Heft 95, 1938.
Right: ‘Schwäbischer Bauer’ by Tiebert, 1935. Postcard. The original work is in the possession of the ‘Städtische Sammlung Isny‘. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst Oberschwaben, -Ein schwieriges Erbe, 1933 – 1945‘, 2014. Depicted in the exhibition cataloque. Size 50 x 40 cm.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Bayerisches Junges Paar‘ (‘Young Bavarian Couple’), 1936. Size 45 x 40 cm. Sold by a German auction house in 2014.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Meine Töchter’ (‘My Daughters‘), 1938. Size 92 x 132 cm. In the possession of the ‘Museen der Stadt Kempen’. Depicted are Tiebert’s three doughters dressed in clothes of the ‘Bund der Deutsche Mädel’ (‘League of German Girls’), the girls’ wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. Depicted in the exhibition cataologue of ‘Art and Life 1918 to 1955’, Lenbachhaus, 2023.
It is unclear if this work was send by Tiebert to the Rosenberg Competition ‘Das Familienbild’.
In 1938, Hermann Tiebert was exclusively invited to participate in the Rosenberg Competition ‘Das Familienbild’, an art exhibition focused at the ‘Pure German Family’. Other carefully selected participants in the competition organized by the Reichsleitung NSDAP, the highest political level of the Nazi party, were: Adolf Wissel, Thomas Baumgartner, Theodor Bohnenberger, Bernhard Dörres, Georg Ehmig, Constantin Gerhardinger, Fritz Mackensen, Wilhelm Petersen, Georg Siebert, Karl Storch, Wolfgang Willrich and Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück.
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Bauernkopf’ (‘Head of a Farmer’). Postcard.
Right: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Bauernmädchen‘ (‘Farmer Girl‘), 1940. Postcard.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘Mädchen aus dem kleinen Walsertal‘ (‘Girl from Kleinwalsertal‘), postcard. Displayed at the GDK 1939 room 35. Bought by Joseph Goebbels for 1,600 Reichsmark.
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Bauernjäger’ (‘Farmer Hunter’). Depicted in ‘Kunst in Deutschland 1933 – 1945’, Mortimer G. Davidson, 1992.
Right: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Flachsschwingerin’ (‘Woman working with Flax’), postcard.
Left: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Allgäuer Spinnerin’ (‘Spinner from the Allgäu‘), 1928. Depictd in ‘Das Bild‘, page 124, 1934.
Right: Hermann Tiebert, ‘Beim Abendbrot’ (‘Diner’). Date of creation unknown. Depicted in ‘Kunst in Deutschland 1933 – 1945’, Mortimer G. Davidson, 1992.
Left: Hermann TIebert, ‘Bregenzerwälderinnen‘ (‘Women from the Bregenzer Forest‘), GDK 1940 room 35.
Right: Hermann Tiebert, design of ‘Bregenzerwälderinnen‘. Charcoal. Size 47 x 36 cm. Sold by a German auction house in 2014.
Left: Hermann Tiebert, selfportrait, 1916.
Right: Hermann Tiebert, date unknown.
Hermann Tiebert, ‘German Art’ contra ‘Degenerated Art’
Hermann Tiebert, born in 1895 in Koblenz as the son of a Militär-Intendantur-Sekretär (position in the Army Administraton) was a German painter. Until 1913, he attended the Kunstgewerbeschule of Karlsruhe and in 1914 the Kunstakademie of the same city. From 1914 to 1916 he studied under Hans Adolf Bühler, Walter Conz, and as Meisterschüler under Heinrich Wilhelm Trübner. In 1919, he had his first exhibition of works at the Moos Galerie in Karlsruhe. Three years later, he exhibited at the ‘Casseler Kunstausstellung 1922’. In 1929, Tiebert settled in the village of Ried, near the city of Isny in the Allgäu. Tiebert’s main theme was peasants, in traditional cloths, from Swabia, Vorarlberg and the Allgäu. Like Adolf Wissel, his style was that of the Neue Sachlichkeit.
During National Socialism, Tiebert was an appreciated and requested artist. His portraits of the peasant world of Swabia, Vorarlberg and the Allgäu, reflected the archetypes of an ideal world in constant struggle against eradication, nomadism, and cosmopolitanism. South German peasants perfectly embodied the völkisch ideal of a man linked to Heimat and faithful to the customs of his ancestors.
Tiebert was represented in almost all the NS-Kulturgemeinde Ausstellungen, which were significant pre-GDK Nazi-exhibitions:
– ‘Deutsche Bauer – Deutsches Land’, organised by the Reichsleiters Walter Darré and Alfred Rosenberg, 1938;
– ‘Kunstausstellung der NS-Gemeinschaft Kraft durch Freude’, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 1938 (9 works);
– ‘Heroische Kunst’, NS-Kulturgemeinde, Städtische Galerie Lenbachhaus, München, 1936;
– ‘Blut und Boden’, NS-Kulturgemeinde/ Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 1936;
– ‘Lob der Arbeit’, NS-Kulturgemeinde, Berlin, 1936;
– ‘Die Auslese I’, NS_Kulturgemeinde/ NS-Gemeinschaft Kraft durch Freude’, Berlin, 1934;
– ‘Wanderausstellung Deutscher Kunst’, Deutscher Kunstgesellschaft Sitz Dresden’, 1933.
In 1938, Hermann Tiebert was exclusively invited to participate in the Rosenberg Competition ‘Das Familienbild’, an art exhibition focused at the ‘Pure German Family’. Other carefully selected participants in the competition organized by the Reichsleitung NSDAP, the highest political level of the Nazi party, were: Adolf Wissel, Thomas Baumgartner, Theodor Bohnenberger, Bernhard Dörres, Georg Ehmig, Constantin Gerhardinger, Fritz Mackensen, Wilhelm Petersen, Georg Siebert, Karl Storch, Wolfgang Willrich and Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück.
It is unclear if Tiebert submitted here his work ‘Meine Töchter’ (‘My Daughters‘), 1938, size 132 x 92 cm. This work, which is in the possession of the ‘Museen der Stadt Kempen’, depicts his three doughters dressed in clothes of the ‘Bund der Deutsche Mädel’ (‘League of German Girls’), the girls’ wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth; depicted in the exhibition cataologue of ‘Art and Life 1918 to 1955’, Lenbachhaus, 2023.
Also In 1938, Tiebert displayed ‘Filatrice di Echterdingen’ (‘Echterdinger Spinnerin’ or ‘Spinner from Echterdingen’), at the ‘XXI Esposizione Biennale Internazionale D’Arte’, 1938 -XVI. A year earlier the work was displayed at the GDK
In 1934, one year after the Nazi ‘Reichserbhofgesetz’ (‘the Hereditary Farm Law’), Tiebert created his masterpiece ‘Erbhofbauer’, depicting an owner of an ‘Erbhof’, a hereditary farm which had been, undivided, passed on from father to the eldest son since 1800.
‘Erbhofbauer’ was displayed at numerous Nazi exhibitions, including ‘Die Auslese’, 1934, Berlin, ‘Heroische Kunst’, 1936, München, and the Great German Art Exhibition in 1938. The work was depicted in countless books and magazines, including ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’ 1938, and ‘Das Bild’, 1935.
A second (smaller) version of ‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert is in the possession of the Lenbachhaus in München.
‘Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert, Germany’s counterpart to Grand Wood’s ‘American Gothic’.
’Erbhofbauer’ by Tiebert can be seen as Germany’s counterpart to Grand Wood’s ‘American Gothic’. Wood also intended his 1930-work to depict the farmer as survivor, to pay homage to the strength of the rural community, and to provide reassurance in a time of great economic upset.
Tiebert’s work was often shown as an example of pure German art as antipole to degenerated art. At least 3 such publications are known:
- ‘Erbhofbauer’, depicted in ‘Säuberung des Kunsttempels’ (‘Cleaning the Art Temples’), by Wolfgang Willrich, München/ Berlin, 1937; described as ‘Volkstümlich und Meisterlich geschildert’;
- ‘Walsertalerin‘ (‘Girl from the Walsertal’), depicted in the article ‘Deutsche Kunst und Entartete Kunst’ in ‘Jugend’, Heft 52, 1937; shown here as an example of pure German art in juxtaposition to ‘Die Braut‘ by Werner Scholz, 1930;
- ‘Walsertalerin‘ , displayed in ‘Deutsche Kunst und Entartete Kunst‘, München, 1938. ‘Walsertalerin‘ is shown here again as an example of pure German art in juxtaposition to inter alia ‘Die Braut‘ by Werner Scholz, 1930.
At the Great German Art Exhibitions, Tiebert was represented with 16 works, of which two were bought by Joseph Goebbels: ‘Walsertalerin‘ (‘Girl from Walsertal’, GDK 1937) and ‘Mädchen aus dem kleinen Walsertal‘ (‘Girl from Kleinwalsertal‘, GDK 1939, purchase price 1,600 Reichsmark). Hitler bought ‘Jägerbildnis‘ (‘Portrait of a Hunter‘, GDK 1940, purchase price 2,500 Reichsmark, in the possession of the German Historical Museum). Martin Bormann bought ‘Vorarlberger Bauer’ (‘Farmer from Vorarlberg’, GDK 1940, purchase price 3,500 Reichsmark, in the possession of the Pinakothek der Moderne). Reichsminister Dr. Frick also owed a work by Tiebert: ‘Der Wildschütz’ (‘The Poacher‘).
In 1940/41, Tiebert was placed on the list ‘Künstler im Kriegseinsatz’ with 130 other prominent artists. In 1944 he was put on the ‘Gottbegnadeten-Liste’ (‘God-gifted list’), a list with 1,041 names of artists, architects, music conductors, singers, writers and filmmakers considered crucial to Nazi culture, who were exempted from military mobilisation during the final stages of World War II. Two years later, in 1943, he rejected an offer for a professorship in Dresden.
Hermann Tiebert died on 15 May 1978 in Isny im Allgäu.
His works are in the possession of the Staatgalerie in Stuttgart, the Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe and the Lenbachhaus in Munich (second version of ‘Erbhofbauer’).
‘Erbhofbauer‘, Tiebert’s masterpiece, was extensively described, and depicted in black and white in the exhibition catalogue ‘Kunst im 3. Reich, Dokumente der Unterwerfung‘, Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1974; at the time of this exhibition, 1974, the painting was still missing.
In 2014, the exhibition ‘Kunst Oberschwaben 20. Jahrhundert, Ein Schwierige Erbe, 1933 – 1945′, was held at the museum of the city of Biberach. Several works by Hermann Tiebert were exhibited. ‘Erbhofbauer’ was depicted in the exhibition catalogue, but marked again as ‘still missing’. In 2023, the work showed up, after 7 decades, at a German auction.