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Description
‘Rückenakt’ (‘Reclining Female Nude’)
Displayed at the GDK 1939, room 15.
Monumental work, bought in 1939 by Heinrich Hoffmann.
‘Rückenakt’ was Karl Truppes first work displayed at the GDK and led to his breakthrough in the Third Reich.
Original sticker of the ‘Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1939’ on the back of the painting.
Card from the adminstration of the Haus der Kunst. The Einlieferungsnummer ’81’ in 1939 is corresponding with the number left on the photo above.
Karl Truppe, ‘Rückenakt’, depicted in the official GDK-1939 catalogue.
Karl Truppe, ‘Rückenakt’, depicted in ‘Kunst dem Volk‘, Juli 1939.
Karl Truppe, ‘Rückenakt’, depicted in the magazine ‘Jugend’, 1939, number 32.
Karl Truppe, ‘Rückenakt’, depicted in ‘Das Bild, -Monatsschrift für das Deutsche Kunstschaffen in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart’, Auguts/ September 1939.
Karl Truppe, ‘Rückenakt’, depicted in ‘Karl Truppe, sein Werden und Schaffen’, 1942.
‘Rückenakt’ by Truppe, at the GDK 1939, room 15.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 190 x 157 cm; unframed 170 x 140 |
| – signed | : right, under. Created in 1939 |
| – type | : oil on canvas |
| – misc. | : with original frame and original GDK-sticker at the back |
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BIOGRAPHY: KARL TRUPPE
Karl Truppe, ‘Sein und Vergehen’ (‘Being and Becoming’). GDK 1940 room 15; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Hitler for 12.000 Reichsmark. At October 1, 1940, Hitler gave the painting to Gauleiter Adolf Wagner for his 50th birthday.
Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1940, and in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, 1940.
Joseph Goebels visiting the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung 1940. Next to Goebbels on his right Gerdy Troost, Rudolf Hess and Prof. Karl Kolb, director of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst. ‘Sein und Vergehen’ at the background (photo: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek).
Trilogy, ‘Sinnenfreude, Einkehr, Verklärung. Created in 1941.
Trilogy, Part I
‘Sinnenfreude’ (‘Joy of Senses’). GDK 1941 room 8; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1941, and in ‘Die Malerei im deutschen Faschismus‘, 1974. Also in ‘Kunst im 3. Reich, dokumente der Unterwerfung‘, 1974, and in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, August 1941. Size: 222 x 164 cm. In the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum.
Displayed at the exhibition ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne‘, Weimar, 1999.
Trilogy, Part II
‘Einkehr‘ (‘Reflection‘). GDK 1941 room 8. Size: 223 x 163 cm. Bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark. The painting hung in the Reichskanzlei. In the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum.
Displayed at the exhibition ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne‘, Weimar, 1999.
Trilogy, Part III
‘Verklärung’ (‘Transfuguration’). Not displayed at the GDK.
All three parts of the Trilogy are described and depicted in ‘Karl Truppe, sein Werden und Schaffen’, 1942.
Left: part III depicted in colour in ‘Velhagen & Klasing Monatshefte’, 1943.
Right: part III was also printed on postcards. At the back the text: ‘Karl Truppe, -Mutter’.
Karl Truppe, ‘Im Atelier’ (‘In the Atelier’). Depicted in ‘Karl Truppe, sein Werden und Schaffen’, 1942. At the back Part I and III of the Trilogy.
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘Bacchus und Ariadne’ (‘Bacchus and Ariadne’), GDK 1942 room 14; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Bought by Hitler for 22.000 Reichsmark. Size: 193 x 182 cm. In the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum. Depicted in ´Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich´, 1942.
Right: Karl Truppe, ‘Akt mit Roten Kopftuch‘ (‘Nude with Red Headscarf‘). Depicted in the special ‘Karl Truppe, ein Maler der Schönheit’ in ‘Velhagen & Klasing Monatshefte‘, 1943.
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘Capriccio’, displayed at the GDK 1944 room 22. Bought for 25.000 Reichsmark by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront Berlin. Depicted in ‘Die Malerei im deutschen Faschismus‘, 1974. In the possession of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen.
Right: ‘Cacpriccio’ by Truppe, depicted in the ‘Illustrierte Beobachter’, 24 August 1944.
‘Capriccio’. Karl Truppe in his studio with his model. Shown in 1944 the film ‘Europawoche, UfA, Nr. 056, 21 March 1944 (at 1.45)
Karl Truppe, ‘Führerbildnis’ (‘Portrait of the leader’). GDK 1942 room 17. Depicted on the cover of ‘Kunst dem Volk’, April 1942.
Another version of the ‘Führerbildniss’ by Karl Truppe. Large framed period print after a painting by Truppe, signed 1939. Size 1,6 x 1 meter. With the text at the backside: ‘Bohemia Moravia’ (in private possession).
The depiction above by Truppe is based on a photograph taken in 1933 by Heinrich Hoffmann, which is in its turn based on a painting by Theodor Bohnenberger.
Left: detail of the depiction by Truppe.
Middle: the photo by Hoffmann depicted on the cover of the magazine ‘der Illustrierter Beobachter, – Adolf Hilter, Ein Mann und Sein Volk’, Sonderausgabe 1936.
Right: the original photo by Heinrichh Hoffmann, 1933 (Hoffmann Archives). The text below the photo reads: ‘After a painting by Theodor Bohnenberger.
Karl Truppe, ‘Vita victrix – Schachspiel mit dem Tod‘ (‘Vita victrix – playing Chess with Death’). Truppe depicted himself playing chess with Death. GDK 1942 room16. Bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark. Size: 175 x 125 cm. In the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne‘, Weimar, 1999.
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘Junges Mädchen‘ (‘Young Girl‘). Depicted in the special ‘Karl Truppe, ein Maler der Schönheit’ in ‘Velhagen & Klasing Monatshefte‘, 1943.
Right: Karl Truppe, ‘Vanitas’. GDK 1943 room 41; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Also depicted on numerous postcards.
Bought by the Landesgalerie Kärnten (now Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten).
Karl Truppe, ‘Liegender weiblicher Akt‘ (‘Laying Female Nude‘), signed 1936. Size 112 x 66 cm. Sold by an Austrian auction house in 2023.
Karl Truppe, ‘Mutterhände’ (‘Hands of a Mother’). GDK 1942 room 37. Bought by Heinrich Hoffmann for 3000 Reichsmark, likely given to Hitler (according to ‘Karl Truppe, sein Werden und Schaffen’, 1942, the work was in the possession of Hitler). Depicted in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, September 1941.
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘Mädchen mit Sonnenblumen’ (‘Girl with Sunflowers’), 1943. Size: 137 x 107 cm.
Right: Karl Truppe, ‘Rote und weisse Radieschen’ (‘Red and white Radish). GDK 1943 room 37. Sold in 2015 by an Austrian auction house. Size 67 x 50 cm.
Karl Truppe, ‘Raub der Sabinerinnen’ (‘Rape of the Sabine women’). In the possession of Reichsminister Dr. Goebbels. Depicted in ‘Karl Truppe, sein Werden und Leben’, 1942.
The Rape occurred in the early history of Rome, shortly after its founding by Romulus and his mostly male followers. Seeking wives in order to establish families, the Romans negotiated unsuccessfully with the Sabines, who populated the surrounding area. The Sabines feared the emergence of a rival society and refused to allow their women to marry the Romans. Consequently, the Romans planned to abduct Sabine women during a festival of Neptune Equester. They planned and announced a marvelous festival to attract people from all nearby towns. According to Livy, many people from Rome’s neighboring towns attended, including folk from the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates, and many of the Sabines. At the festival, Romulus gave a signal, at which the Romans grabbed the Sabine women and fought off the Sabine men. The indignant abductees were soon implored by Romulus to accept Roman husbands.
Karl Truppe, ‘Schmerz’ (‘Grief’), signed 1938. Sold by a German auction house in 2018.
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘Die Jugend des Bacchus’ (‘The Youth of Bacchus’). Depicted in ‘Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte’, August 1943.
Karl Truppe,’Jugend’ (‘Youth’). GDK 1942 room 20. Depicted in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, September 1941, and in ´Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich´, 1942.
Karl Truppe, ‘Akt im Helldunkel’ (‘Nude in Light and Dark’). Displayed at the ‘Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung’, 1940. Depicted in the exhibition catalog.
Karl Truppe, postcards. Date of issuance unknown.
Left: ‘Sabine’.
Right: ‘Die Vier Elemente’ (‘The Four Elements’).
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘The Rape of Europe’, signed 1934. Size 65 x 81 cm. Oil on cardboard. Sold by an Austrian auction house in 2023.
Right: Karl Truppe, ‘Still-life with Eggs’, signed 1922. Size 43 x 54 cm. Oil on plate. Sold by an Austrian auction house in 2023.
Karl Truppe, ‘Don Quichotte’, depicted in ‘Velhagen & Klasings Monatshefte’, 1942. The text below the picture reads: ‘In possession of the city of Würzburg’.
Left: Karl Truppe, ‘Portrait of the Viennese Actress Katharina Schratt, friend of Kaiser Franz Joseph’. Charcoal, size 63 x 44 cm. Sold by a German auction house in 2017.
Right: Karl Truppe, ‘Küchenstilleben‘ (‘Kitschen Still Life‘). Created in and signed 1924. Displayed at an exhibition organised by the Mährischen Künstlervein/ Künstlerhaus in Brünn. Size 114 x 83 cm. Preparatory study, described and depicted in ‘Karl Truppe, sein Werden und Leben’, 1942. Sold by a German auction house in 2017.
Karl Truppe’, ‘Bauernmadonna’ (‘Peasant Madonna), 1924. Size 200 x 131 cm. Offered in 2017 by a American auktion house.
Left: Karl Truppe in his atelier in 1944. Fragment of the film Die Deutsche Wochenschau 3 March 1944
Right: Karl Truppe, ‘Die Vier Temperamente’ (‘Four Temperaments’). Created in 1947. In the possession of the Museum für Volkskunde, displayed on loan in Schloss Portia, Spittal. Photo: 1946.
Karl Truppe, ‘Küchenstilleben’ (‘Kitchen still life’) and ‘Stilleben mit Fischen’ (‘Still life with Fish’), both depicted in ‘Das Bild’, Januari 1939.
Left: ‘Küchenstilleben’, displayed under the name ‘Still life with Eggs’ at the GDK 1939 room 10.
Right: ‘Stilleben mit Fischen’, displayed at the GDK 1939 room 35.
Karl Truppe, ‘Selfportrait, depicted in the special ‘Karl Truppe, ein Maler der Schönheit’ in ‘Velhagen & Klasing Monatshefte‘, 1943.
Karl Truppe, the Rembrandt of the Third Reich
Karl Truppe (1887–1959), son of a village schoolmaster, was born in Ebenthal (Klagenfurt/Austria). First he was the pupil of the Ludwig Willroider, Austrian professor at the Munich Art Academy. From 1905 to 1913 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he attended courses of Professor Alois Delug and Professor Christian Griepenkerl. He was awarded the ‘Naturkopfpreis’, the ‘Medal of the city of Klagenfurt’ and in 1914 the Prix de Rome.
Truppe served in East Galicia and Italy as an officer in the Austria-Hungarian army, in the ‘kaiserlich und köninglich Kriegspressequartier’; he worked as a war artist and made, inter alia, several portraits of generals as well as of the last Emperor of Austria, Karl I von Habsburg. From 1917 to 1937 he lived in Brünn (Czech Republic), where Truppe -the artistic leader of the ‘Gesellschaft der Kunstfreunde’- led a drawing and painting class. Most of the summers he stayed in his second home in Viktring/Klagenfurt, in which his father had installed an atelier for him. Truppe’s artistic work included portraits, still lifes, nudes and paintings with mythological representations or folksy content.
He held many exhibitions in Brünn, received the Brünn-Prize, the Schindler Medaille, the Jellinek Medaille and in 1928 he was commissioned to paint Thomas Garrigue Masaryk, the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia. His reputation as a portraitist of celebrities brought him orders from home and abroad. Portrait commissions took him to Florence, Paris and in 1931 to New York and Chicago. Back in Europe, he was floating on a wave of success that made him restless. In German cities soon followed exhibition after exhibition. At the ‘Kunstausstellung Hilfswerk für Deutsche Bildende Künst in der NS-Volkswohlfahrt’, 1939, organised by the Preussische Akademie der Künste, he was represented with three works.
Truppe’s portraits are characterised by the light-dark composition of old masters. Signed in red, many of his works were reminiscent of Rembrandt, for example ‘Rückenakt’ (‘Reclining Female Nude’) in 1939, ‘Sein und Vergehen’ (‘Being and Becoming’) in 1940, ‘Sinnenfreude’ (‘Joy of Senses’) in 1941 and ‘Vanitas’ in 1943.
In 1938 Karl Truppe was appointed professor of Fine Arts at the Art Academy in Dresden; later in 1943, he would become professor at the Art Academy in Munich. In 1941 Truppe was represented at the Grosse Berliner Kunstaustellung and at the ‘Kunstausstellung Hilfswerk für deutsche bildende Kunst in der NS-Volkswohlfahrt’. Also in 1941 he created the trilogy ‘Sinnenfreude, Einkehr, Verklärung’ (‘Joy of Senses, Reflection, Transfiguration’; ‘Sinnenfreude’ and ‘Einkehr’ were both displayed at the GDK 1941 and bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark each. A year later he was again represented at the Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung.
At the GDKs Karl Truppe -member of the NSDAP since 1940 but excluded in 1943- exhibited 21 canvases. ‘Rückenakt’ was his first work displayed at the GDK and led to his breakthrough in the Third Reich. Six of his GDK-were bought by Hitler, three by Heinrich Hoffmann and one by the Deutsches Arbeitsfront at prices of up to 25,000 Reichsmarks. ‘Sein und Vergehen’ (GDK 1940), bought by Hitler, was planned as a wedding gift to Gauleiter Adolf Wagner. Truppes ‘Portrait of the Leader’ (‘Führerbildnis’), GDK 1942 room 17, became very famous; it was, like several of his other works, depicted on numerous postcards. ‘Portrait of the Leader’ was copied on a massive scale and often used to decorate Nazi buildings; Heinrich Hoffmann published this painting on the cover of ‘Kunst dem Volk’, April 1942. Other works by Truppe were bought by Goebbels, Gauleiter Wagner, the Reichskanzlei, the Minstery of Propaganda and the Gauleiter of Saxony. A peculiar GDK work was ‘Vita victrix – Schachspiel mit dem Tod’, 1942, a work in which Karl Truppe depicts himself playing chess with Death. Although deviating from the official Nazi style, the work was bought by Adolf Hitler himself for 15,000 Reichsmark.
After the end of the Third Reich, Truppe fell more or less into oblivion (with the exception of the region Klagenfurt/Carinthie); Viktring became his permanent living place. He founded the ‘Gesellschaft der Kunstfreunde von Klagenfurt’, in which village he also became director and teacher of a painting school. After 1945 Truppe created paintings in the style of socialisme and ‘Wiederaufbau’ for the Festsaal der Arbeiterkammer in Klagenfurt. On 2 March 1946, at the exhibition ‘Frühjahrausstellung des Kunstvereines von Landeshauptmann Hans Piesch’, Truppe was represented with a portrait of the British colonel H.B. Simson. In 1950 he portrayed ex-interior minister Vinzenz Schumy; a year later he painted the governor of Kärnten, Ferdinand Wedenig; Wedenigs portrait was destinated for the Galerie der Kärtner Landesregierung. Also in 1950 Truppe showed around 100 works in the Klagenfurter Künstlerhaus.
Karl Truppe died in 1959 in Viktring.
In 1964 the widow of Karl Truppe donated a large number of works (including ‘Die Vier Elemente’, 1947) to the ‘Museum für Volkskultur’ in Spittal an der Drau; the paintings were destined for the museum and for Castle Porcia. In 1986 an exhibition of works by Truppe took place in the Galerie der Arbeiterkammer in Klagenfurt. On the occasion of Truppes 100th birthday, the Museum für Volkskultur held in 1987 a special exhibition. The Deutsches Historisches Museum is in the possession of ‘Vita victrix – Schachspiel mit dem Tod’, ‘Bildnis meiner Mutter’ (‘Portrait of my Mother’, GDK 1940), ‘Einkehr’ (‘Reflection’, GDK 1941), ‘Sinnenfreude’ (‘Joy of Senses’, GDK 1941) and ‘Bacchus und Ariadne’ (‘Bacchus and Ariadne’, GDK 1942). The Bayerische Staatsgemäldessamlungen owns ‘Capriccio’, GDK 1944. The Landesgalerie Kärnten (now Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten) owed a version of ‘Führerbildnis’ by Karl Truppe; possibly this work is now in possession of the Landesmuseum Kärnten, which is also in the possession of the portraits of Vinzenz Schumy, Ferdinand Wedenig and dr. Athur Lemisch (1942). At the exhibition ‘Aufstieg und Fall der Moderne‘, Weimar, 1999, three works by Truppe were displayed: ‘Vita victrix – Schachspiel mit dem Tod‘ (GDK 1942, bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark), ‘Sinnenfreude’ (‘Joy of Senses’, GDK 1941, bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark) and ‘Einkehr‘ (‘Reflection‘, GDK 1941, bought by Hitler for 15.000 Reichsmark).