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Description
‘Die Fruchtbarkeit’ (‘Fertility’)
Displayed at the GDK 1943 room 19.
Signed ‘Joh. Beutner 1942’
Monumental painting, size 170 x 140 cm.
At the backside: remains of the authentic GDK 1943 sticker.
‘Die Fruchtbarkeit’, by Beutner, displayed at the GDK 1943 room 19.
Immortal German Art: Unsterbliche deutsche Kunst
‘Die Fruchtbarkeit‘ by Beutner, depicted under the titel ‘Unsterbliche deutsche Kunst‘ (‘Immortal German Art‘) in an article about the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1943, published in the ‘Neue Illustrierte Zeitung‘, Berlin, 4 January 1944.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 170 x 140 ; unframed 120 x 151 cm |
| – signed | : left, below: ‘Joh. Beutner 1942’ |
| – type | : oil on canvas |
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BIOGRAPHY: JOHANNES BEUTNER
Johannes Beutner, ‘Ernterast’ (‘Harvest Rest’), GDK 1941 room 24. Bought for 9,000 Reichsmark by the Reichs-Rundfunk GmbH in Berlin. Sold by a German auction house in 2013.
Depicted in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, 1941.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Die Chariten’ (‘The Charites‘). In Greek mythology the Charites, or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Displayed at the ‘Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung’, 1942, Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
Johannes Beunter, ‘Erwachen’ (‘Awakening’), 1938/39. Displayed at the GDK 1939 room 22. Bought by Joachim von Ribbentrop for 12,000 Reichsmark. In the possession of the Museum Belvedere, Vienna (the Von Ribbentrop-collection). Size 115 x 150 cm. Also depicted in ‘Jugend’, 1939, Heft 32, page 637.
Adolf Hitler at the GDK 1939. FLTR: Joseph Goebbels, the Italian Minister of Propaganda Dino Alfieri, unidentified person, Gerdy Troost. At the background ‘Erwachen’ by Beutner.
Left: Johannes Beutner, ‘Reifezeit’ (‘Ripening Season‘). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Der deutsche Mensch’, 1941, Kunsthalle, Berlin.
Right: Johannes Beutner, ‘Liegendes Mädchen’ (‘Laying Girl‘). Depicted full-page in ‘Kunst dem Volk‘, July 1940. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Der deutsche Mensch’, 1941, Kunsthalle, Berlin.
Left: Johannes Beutner, ‘Nereïden’. ‘Nereids’ were in Greek mythology sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ‘Old Man of the Sea’ Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters to their brother Nerites. Displayed at the ‘Grosse Dresdner Kunstausstellung’, 1941. Depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Right: Johannes Beutner, ‘Sitzendes Mädchen’ (‘Sitting Girl‘), displayed at the ‘Ausstellung Dresdner Kunst 1930, Brühlsche Terasse, Dresden. Depicted in the exhibition catalog.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Schwestern’ (‘Sisters’). Displayed at the ‘Kunst Ausstellung Gau Sachsen‘, Dresden, 1943. Depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Left: Johannes Beutner, ‘Sitzender Akt‘ (‘Sitting Nude‘), 1933. Displayed at the ‘Frühjahrs-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie der Künste’, 1934. Depicted in the exhibition catalog. Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst für Alle‘, 1933/34.
Left: Johannes Beutner, ‘Sitzender Akt‘. Size 100 x 80 cm. In the possession of the Städtische Galerie Dresden (bought from the artist in 1947).
Johannes Beutner, ‘Die Reinheit’ (‘Purity‘), displayed at the GDK 1940 room 25. Bought by the Gauleitung Sachsen der NSDAP for 2,500 Reichsmark.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Nach dem Bade‘ (‘After Bathing‘), 1942. Size 131 x 181 cm. Offered by a German auction house in 2012.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Halbakt’ (‘Half Nude’) displayed at the ‘Sächsiche Kunstausstellung‘, Dresden, 1934. Depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Sitzendes Mädchen’ (‘Sitting Girl‘), 1934. Size 90 x 75 cm. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’, Stadtmuseum Pirna, 2010. 
Johannes Beutner, two works depicted in ‘Kunst der Nation’, September 1934. Assumably displayed at the ‘Sächsiche Aquarell Ausstellung’, 1934, Brühlsche Terrasse, Dresden.
Right: ‘Liegende Akt’ (‘Laying Nude’), 1931. Oil on canvas, size 90 x 80 cm. Depicted in ‘Johannes Beutner’, by Fritz Löffler, VEB Verlag der Kunst Dresden, 1987.
Left: Johannes Beutner, ‘Halbakt’ (‘Half Nude‘). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Gemeinsame Auusstellung 3 Künstlergruppen Dresden 1933‘. Depicted in the catalog of the exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’, Stadtmuseum Pirna, 2010.
Right: Johannes Beutner, ‘Sizendes Mädchen’ (‘Sittig Girl‘). Displayed at the exhibition ‘Dresdner Sezession 1932 1. Ausstelling’. Depicted in the catalog of the exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’, Stadtmuseum Pirna, 2010. 
Johannes Beutner, ‘Hilde’, depicted on the cover of ‘Jugend’, 1930, Heft 37, page 577.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Hilde’, depicted on the cover of ‘Jugend’, 1934, Heft 43, page 673.
Johannes Beutner, ‘Begegnung’ (‘Encounter’), displayed at the exhibition ‘Ehret die Arbeit, Reichsarbeitsdienst Kunstschau 1944‘, Prague (an exhibition of works by RAD-War painters). Depicted on postcards.
The exhibition ‘Ehret die Arbeit’, Prague, 1944: https://archive.org/details/1944-07-13-Die-Deutsche-Wochenschau-723
The exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’, Stadtmuseum Pirna, 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RuXtxBeItU
Johannes Beutner, ‘Mädchen am Tisch‘ (‘Girl at Table‘), 1931. Size 37 x 55 cm. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’, Stadtmuseum Pirna, 2010. 
Johannes Beutner, Selfportrait, 1926. Size 63 x 47 cm. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’, Stadtmuseum Pirna, 2010. 
Left: Johannes Beutner, photo taken in 1944.
Right: Beutner with his second wife Hilde and their sons.
Johannes Beutner, Dresden’s leading painter of nudes in the 20th century
Johannes Beutner (1890 – 1960), born as the son of a locksmith, was a German painter and graphic artist. From 1905 to 1906 he studied at the Dresden Art Academy. His teachers included Johannes Raphael Wehle and Robert Sterl. He took an apprenticeship as a Chemigrapher for autotype and color etching until 1909. In 1911, he became Color-chemigrapher at the company Römmler & Jonas, until 1915. He then went into the army where he served in the Railway Troops, initially in Northern France. He studied again at the Dresden Art Academy from 1920 to 1924, this time under Otto Hettner and as a master student under Ludwig von Hofmann, both Neo Classicists, but at the same time also moderate Modernists. After his study, he started working as a freelancer and opened an atelier in the Chemnitzerstrasse; later during the infamous night of the 13/14 February 1945, it was bombed and most of his works were lost. Main themes of Beutner were landscapes, still lifes and portraits, -especially female nudes.
Around 1926, Beutner met Hilde Franke, who would become his model for the rest of his life, and later became his second wife in 1943. In 1930, he received a scholarship of 1,000 Reichsmark, which enabled him to study for a year at the German Academy in Rom (‘Villa Massimo’). During that year, he made study-trips to Bologna, Florence, Siena and Napels. Also in 1930, Beutner participated at the ‘Ausstellung Dresdner Kunst 1930‘, Brühlsche Terasse, Dresden; his work was depicted in the exhibition catalog.
From 1932 to 1934 Beutner was a member of the ‘Dresden Secession 1932’, in whose first exhibition in 1932 he participated with ‘Sizendes Mädchen’ (‘Sittig Girl‘).
In 1933, Beutner’s work ‘Stillende Mutter‘ (‘Breastfeeding Mother‘) was shown at the (early) degenerated art exhibition ‘Kunst, die nicht aus unserer Seele kam‘, Städtisches Museum Chemnitz, 14 May -June 1933. Apparently for Beutner this was a non-recurring incident, he did not get banned from exhibiting, nor got any other work-restrictions.
Around 1933, Beutner, together with six other friends, constituted, in a completely informal way, a circle which would then be called the group of ‘The Seven Righteous’ (‘Die aufrechten Sieben’) or of ‘The Seven Walkers’ (‘Sieben Spaziergänger’), depending on whether one wants to emphasize the fact that they were a group of idealists or that the only way to get together, for them, was to take walks together outside the city: they were Erich Fraaß (1893-1974), Otto Griebel (1895 – 1972), Karl Kröner (1887-1972), Hans Jüchser (1894-1977), Paul Wilhelm (1886-1965) and Fritz Winkler (1894-1964). All seven would survive Nazism and war and remain friends in the following years.
Other exhibitions in which Beutner participated:
– ‘Gemeinsame Auusstellung 3 Künstlergruppen Dresden 1933‘;
– ‘Frühjahrs-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie der Künste’, 1933 (4 works);
– ‘Sächsiche Kunstausstellung Dresden’, 1934;|
– ‘Frühjahrs-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie der Künste’, 1934;
– ‘Herbst-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie der Künste zu Berlin’, 1935;
– ‘Dresdner Kunstausstellung’, 1935;
– ‘Grosse Dresdner Kunstausstellung’, 1941;
– ‘Der deutsche Mensch’, 1941, Berlin (‘Reifezeit’ and ‘Liegendes Mädchen’, -depicted in ‘Kunst dem Volk‘, July 1940);
– ‘Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung’, 1942;
– ‘Grosse Dresdner Kunstausstellung’, 1943;
– ‘Kunst Ausstellung Gau Sachsen‘, Dresden, 1943;
– ‘Ehret die Arbeit, Reichsarbeitsdienst Kunstschau 1944‘, Prague (an exhibition of works by RAD-War painters).
During the Nazi era, Beutner was a member of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts. He was represented at the Great German Art Exhibitions in 1939, 1940, 1942 and 1943. His work ‘Erwachen’ (‘Awakening’), displayed at the GDK 1939, was bought by Joachim von Ribbentrop for 12,000 Reichsmark (now, as part of the Von Ribbentrop Collection, in the possession of the Museum Belvedere, Vienna); it was depicted in the magazine ‘Jugend’. ‘Die Reinheit’ (‘Purity‘), displayed at the GDK 1940, was bought by the Gauleitung Sachsen der NSDAP for 2,500 Reichsmark. ‘Ernterast’ (‘Harvest Rest’), GDK 1941, was bought for 9,000 Reichsmark by the Reichs-Rundfunk GmbH in Berlin (depicted full-page in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, 1941).
After WWII, Beutner, like so many other artists, adapted his painting style somewhat, and he took part at many prominent DDR-exhibitions.
Johannes Beutner, Dresden’s leading painter of nudes in the 20th century, died in 1960 in Dresden. His grave is located at the Loschwitz cemetery.
In 2010, the Stadsmuseum Pirna staged the exhibition ‘Johannes Beutner, 1890 -1960, Leben und Werk’. In 2021 an exhibition dedicated to Johannes Beutner was held in Dresden, Waldschänke Hellerau (works from the collection of Prof. Hans Egbert Schröder).