Gustav Wunderwald (1882–1945)
Gustav Wunderwald (1882 - 1945), German painter of the New Objectivity style, and a theatrical set designer.
The son of the gunsmith, Karl Wunderwald began his artistic career in 1896 as an apprentice of the Cologne master painter Wilhelm Kuhn. From 1899 he worked as a scenery painter for various theatres in Germany and abroad.
After World War I he realized his lifelong dream and worked as a freelance artist in Charlottenburg, Berlin.
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. He painted bridges, subways, train stations, billboards, as well as villas in Charlottenburg. Rural subjects included villages in the immediate vicinity of Berlin, Havel, Spree and East Prussia landscapes. 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".
During the Nazi era, he was not allowed to exhibit, or sell his work. During this period he made a living tinting advertising films for Ufa and Mars Film.
Karl Wunderwald died in Berlin, as a result of Hyponatremia (water poisoning).
