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Introduction
Benjamin, Walter
Bismarck, Otto v.
Brecht, Bertolt
Celan, Paul
Döblin, Alfred
Fontane, Theodor
Grosz, George
Grünbein, Durs
Heartfield, John
Honigmann, Barbara
Isherwood, Christopher
Johnson, Uwe
Kleist, Heinrich v.
Kollwitz, Käthe
Kracauer, Siegfried
Lang, Fritz
Lasker-Schüler, Else
Liebermann, Max
Liebknecht, Karl
Luxemburg, Rosa
Marc, Franz
Ossietzky, Carl v.
Riefenstahl, Leni
Ruttmann, Walther
Schinkel, Karl Friedrich
Speer, Albert
Tieck, Ludwig
Tucholsky, Kurt
Ury, Lesser
Varnhagen, Rahel
Wenders, Wim
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Ury, Lesser
b. 1861, Birnbaum
d. Oct. 1931, Berlin
Biography
Lesser Ury was born Leo Lesser Ury, the third son of a baker in Birnbaum. After the death of his
father in 1872, Ury moved to Berlin with his family. In 1878, he quit school to begin his apprenticeship
as a tradesman. In 1879, he quit this apprenticeship and started studying at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf. This began a
decade of travels to several art schools throughout Europe.
In 1880, he traveled to Brussels and Antwerp. In 1881, he spent several months in Paris where he
made his first attempts at painting city scenes, interiors and floral still lifes. In 1882, he
studeid with Jean-Francois Portaels at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Artes in Brussels. In 1883,
he moved to Paris to study with Jules Joseph Lefebvre. After being rejected by the Akademie in
Berlin in 1885, he instead studied in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. In 1886, he studied with Johann
Caspar Herterich at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich. In 1887, he finally returned to
Berlin where he began a friendly relationship with Max Liebermann.
"Moses on the Mountain" (click on the image to enlarge)
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In 1889, Ury had his first show at Fritz Gurlitt's gallery. The public and the press criticized the show
but Adolph von Menzel was still able to convince the Akademie to award him the Michael-Beer-Preis which allowed Ury to travel to Rome and Capri. Upon his return in 1893,
Gurlitt held a one-man show featuring 67 of his paintings. Unfortunately, Ury's relationship with
Liebermann dissolves and they become lifelong enemies.
In 1893, Ury joined the Munich Secession. While in Munich, he worked for the journal called Das
Narrenschiff and met Hermann Stuck in 1898. In 1901, he moved back to Berlin. In 1903, he met Meta Streiter who was his model and muse. In 1910, he participated in the
Berliner Kunstaustellung. In 1914, he began working extensively in the graphic medium. Under the encouragement of Lovis Corinth, Ury had his first exhibition with the Berlin Secession in 1915.
In 1916, Paul Cassirer held a successful retrospective which included 80 works. In 1920, Gurlitt
published his first portfolio entitled Biblische Gestalten. In 1921, he became an honorary member
of the Berlin Secession and in 1922 had a great exposition there featuring 150 paintings to
commemorate his sixtieth birthday.
From 1929 until his death, his creativity diminished and he rarely left his apartment. In 1931, he
painted several views through his window and his last self-portrait. Ury died in October of 1931.
In 1932, the National Gallery in Breslau held a retrospective. Later that year, Cassirer sold his
estate at auction.
Source
Jörg Maaß
http://www.germanexpressionism.com/printgallery/ury/
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