Ewald Mataré

Ewald Mataré
Daniel Ullrich, Threedots · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	Ewald Mataré
Birth date	18 September 1887
Birth place	Burtscheid, Aachen, German Empire
Death date	5 May 1965
Death place	Düsseldorf, West Germany
Nationality	German
Known for	Sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking
Notable works	Stairway of the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, Deer sculptures

Ewald Mataré was a German sculptor, painter, and graphic artist active in the first half of the 20th century whose work bridged late Wilhelmine figuration, Expressionism, and postwar modernism. He is recognized for pared-down animal and human forms, influential pedagogy at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and large public commissions that intersected with debates involving the Weimar Republic, Nazi Party, Gustav Stresemann, and post-1945 reconstruction. Mataré’s career connected him with artists, institutions, and cultural controversies across Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, and international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale.

Early life and education

Born in the Aachen district of Burtscheid during the reign of the German Empire, he studied applied arts and architecture influences linked to figures at the Royal School of Art, Aachen and workshops in Cologne. His formative years included apprenticeships and contacts with teachers from institutions like the Bauhaus-associated circles and acquaintances among practitioners close to the Secession tendencies. During the late Imperial and Weimar Republic periods he encountered the cultural currents propagated through exhibitions at the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Museum Ludwig, and venues where contemporaries such as Max Beckmann, Ernst Barlach, and Otto Dix showed work.

Artistic career

Mataré established a practice combining printmaking, painting, and sculpture, exhibiting alongside artists at the Galerie Arnold, Galerie Flechtheim, and international salons like the Salon d'Automne and Documenta antecedents. His career trajectory intersected with politicians, critics, and curators from institutions including the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, State Museums of Berlin, and the Prussian Academy of Arts. During the 1920s and 1930s he participated in shows curated by figures from the Expressionist milieu and maintained contacts with sculptors such as Georg Kolbe and Wilhelm Lehmbruck, while navigating the cultural policies enforced by the Reichskulturkammer after 1933.

Sculpture and style

Mataré’s sculptural language favored simplified volumes, rhythmic contours, and an emphasis on surface that recalls formal affinities with Brancusi, Henry Moore, and German predecessors like Ernst Barlach and Wilhelm Lehmbruck. His animal motifs—most famously stag and deer figures—display affinities with motifs pursued by Franz Marc and naturalist tendencies seen in works by Antoni Gaudí-influenced designers and the modernist statuary in Scandinavia. His prints and woodcuts show graphic economy comparable to Käthe Kollwitz and Lyonel Feininger, while his public bronzes echo monumentality seen in commissions by Richard Serra-era debates later in the century.

Teaching and influence

Appointed professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, he taught students who later became prominent in postwar German art, interacting with pupils associated with movements that fed into the Zero (art movement), Informel, and later Fluxus networks. His pedagogical role placed him among directors and professors linked to the Prussian Academy lineage and put him in contact with fellow educators from the Bauhaus diaspora and teachers from the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Students and colleagues who cite his influence include artists connected to the Düsseldorf School of Painting and practitioners active in reconstruction-era commissions administered by municipal bodies such as the Düsseldorf City Council.

Major works and commissions

Mataré produced church furnishings, memorials, and civic sculptures. Noted commissions include figurative reliefs and portal work for religious sites in regions like North Rhine-Westphalia and public sculptures at transportation hubs such as the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof. He created stained glass designs, altarpieces, and liturgical objects comparable in scale to works by contemporaries who contributed to postwar ecclesiastical art following commissions tied to reconstruction policies spearheaded by figures in municipal and federal bodies. His works appeared in exhibitions curated by institutions such as the Städel Museum, Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf, and the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf.

Later life and legacy

After surviving the cultural suppression under the Nazi Party and the devastation of World War II, he resumed a central role in West German art life, contributing to debates at forums like the Documenta exhibitions and influencing successors commemorated in retrospectives at the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf and collections of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. His oeuvre is held in museums including the Museum Kunstpalast, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and regional collections across Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. Posthumous reassessments align his work with mid-20th-century modernist renewal alongside peers such as Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter in narratives of German art history.

Category:1887 births Category:1965 deaths Category:German sculptors