Gustav Wunderwald, painter of Berlin

Bridge over Ackerstrasse, 1927

Gustav Wunderwald (1882 - 1945) 

... was a German painter of the New Objectivity style, and a theatrical set designer, born in Cologne.

In 1925 and 1926, Wunderwald was represented at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, and from 1927 in numerous national exhibitions. His works dealt with industrial landscapes in the Berlin districts of Moabit and Wedding, street canyons of Prenzlauer Berg, tenements, houses and back-to-backs in Spandau. He painted bridges, subways, train stations, billboards, as well as villas in Charlottenburg. People were reduced to the role of anonymous figures seen from behind.

Of this period of his creativity he wrote: "The saddest things hit me in the stomach. Moabit and Wedding grab me most with their sombreness and desolation" (1926).

In the Nazi era, his works were disparaged by the authorities and from 1934 he was not allowed to exhibit or sell work. During this period he made a living tinting advertising films for Ufa and Mars Film-

The rediscovery of Wunderwald after the Second World War was the work of Berlin art chief officer Friedrich Lambart with the 1950 retrospective "Images of Berlin".  (Wikipedia)

1928