SCHMITHALS, Hans

German painter and decorative artist. In September 1902, he went to Munich to study under Hermann Obrist and Wilhelm von Debschitz (1871-1948) at the Lehr- und Versuch-Ateliers für angewandte und freie Kunst. He made there such swift progress that he was soon appointed to its staff, teaching hand-painting of wallpapers and stuccowork. His early paintings, especially the ‘cosmic’ landscapes and cloud pictures of 1902 to 1904, show that he was one of the precursors of the movement towards dynamic and ultimately non-objective painting that was to be associated with Kandinsky (1866-1944) and Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957). In this period, he worked from the basic concept that Obrist had developed graphically and sculpturally, in which spiral stood as a symbol for organic life, and he combined objective and abstract motifs in paintings such as Pole Star and Dragon (1902; Stadtmuseum, Munich). For decorative commissions, he used purely abstract designs on carpets, tapestries, textiles and jewellery.

Schmithals lived in Paris from 1909 to 1911, and after his return to Munich, founded the Ausstellungsverband für Raumkunst with Wolfgang von Wersin (1882-1976). In autumn 1913, they mounted their first exhibition, specializing in carpets and furniture, which was then incorporated into the Werkbund Ausstellung in Cologne in 1914.

After World War I, Schmithals produced little creative work, until, in the 1950s, the revival of interest in Art Nouveau encouraged him to repaint a few of his paintings that had been destroyed in World War II.