Bissier, Julius

PAINTER (GERMANY)
BORN 3 Dec 1893, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg - DIED 18 Jun 1965, Ascona, Ticino
GRAVE LOCATION Ascona, Ticino: Cimitero Comunale, Via Losone

Julius Bissier was the son of the mechanician Heinrich Julius Bissier (d.1913). His mother's name was Crescentia Vögtle. He grew up in Freiburg and studied Art at Freiburg University for a while. In 1914 he entered the Art Academy in Karlsruhe. but a few months later he was called to fulfil his military service in Freiburg. At that time he met the philosopher Martin Heidegger and the painter Hans Adolf Bühler.

In 1919 he met Ernst Grosse, who made him familiar with Asian art and became a fatherly kind of friend. In 1920 he exhibited in Freiburg. In 1922 he married Elisabeth Hofschneider. Further exhibitions followed and in 1928 he won several prizes. In 1929 he started treaching at Freiburg University. He met Brancusi in 1930 in Paris. In 1934 he lost most of his works after a fire in his studio and in the nazi era he was hardly able to exhibit and retired to Hagnau near the Bodensee.

Bissier was almost forgotten when the art historian Werner Schmalenbach organised an exhibition of his work in Hanover in 1958. This brough him instant fame and suddenly he was able to exhibit at Documenta II (1959) and Documenta III (1964) in Kassel. He also exhibited in São Paulo and Venice. In 1965 he died in Ascona.

Related persons
• met Brancusi, Constantin

Images

The grave of Julius Bissier at the Cimitero Comunale in Ascona, Ticino.
Picture by Androom (16 Feb 2019)

 

Sources
Julius Bissier – Wikipedia


Bisteghi, Raffaele

Published: 18 Jan 2020
Last update: 23 Feb 2020