Heinrich Nauen
1880-1940
Before World War I, Heinrich Nauen belonged to the circle of "Rhenish Expressionism", an artist group that August Macke founded. He named the group after a famous exhibition. The members did not share a common style; their cohesion was determined above all by their affinity to France and their shared interest in the French art movements. The members included illustrious artists such as Franz Marc, Heinrich Campendonk and for a while, even Max Ernst.
In 1921, Nauen became a professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and taught alongside Otto Dix and Paul Klee. In 1937, however, his work was denounced as "degenerate" by the Nazis; he died three years later.
Nauen spent his happiest and artistically most productive years with his wife at Dilborn Castle near Brüggen, Germany, between 1911 and 1931. The works of this period convey a profoundly affirmative attitude to life. The castle and its park constantly offered him new motifs.
