Allgemeine Anthroposophische Gesellschaft
Buch
Goetheanum | Walther Kniebe Exhibition
- 07 August 2026
- 100%
- Permanent position
- Buch
Job summary
From October 18 to March 16, the Goetheanum showcases Walther Kniebe.
Tasks
- Explore Kniebe's largely unknown graphic and sculptural works.
- View colored drawings from 1911-1918 and post-war paintings.
- Learn about his journey and struggles under the Nazis.
Skills
- No specific qualifications required; all art lovers welcome!
- Appreciation for historical art and its context.
- Interest in exploring diverse artistic expressions.
Is this helpful?
About the job
Walther Kniebe Exhibition
From 18 October to 16 March, the Goetheanum presents the painter and sculptor Walther Kniebe.
At the vernissage, Walter Kugler sketched a portrait of the artist's life. Born in 1884, Kniebe belongs to the generation that experienced the darkest times after their youth – the war years and the years in between marked by poverty and unemployment. Then the spectre of "degenerate art" spread across the world. Originating from the influential book by the Jewish doctor and cultural critic Max Nordau, "Degeneration", this tragic selection entered the art world. Only a few, according to Kugler, opposed this advance like Bernard Shaw. Nordau attributed the degeneration of art to the degeneration of artists and thereby condemned the artistic avant-garde of the time in its entirety. Kugler: "This dictum was a prohibition on life – artists were essentially forbidden to live." This destroyed biographies and caused enormous damage to cultural life. Walther Kniebe was also affected by this stigma, to whom the rich exhibition at the Goetheanum is now dedicated.
The focus of the exhibition lies on the sculptural and the hitherto largely unknown graphic works, which are also documented in an extensive and art-historically accompanied exhibition catalogue from 2020. The exhibition shows coloured drawings from the years 1911 to 1918, paintings from the post-war period, and some treasures. The sculptor Walther Kniebe, born in Dortmund in 1884, was already known in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia when a work ban was imposed on him in 1932. Walther Kniebe had to withdraw from the public and give up his studio. As a refuge for himself and his family, he found a property in the Mucherwiesental on the edge of the Siebengebirge, which he was able to develop as a place of work and life with the help of his friends. Walther Kniebe left behind a sculptural and graphic oeuvre. His main work, the monumental monument "Michael help!" in Rheydt was destroyed by the National Socialists. Shortly afterwards, in an act of self-destruction, the artist himself smashed numerous of his sculptural works, which were sealed in a freight wagon. After that, he was no longer active as a sculptor and turned to painting. In 1942, he presented Marie Steiner with the copper relief of Michael's face from his monument, which has since been on display in the west stairwell of the Goetheanum.
This news also appeared in the weekly magazine "Das Goetheanum".
Image exhibition view Walther Kniebe, Goetheanum 2024. Photo: Xue Li
