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Walter LeistikowGerman landscape painter
Date of Birth: 25.10.1865
Country:  Germany |
Biography of Walter Leistikow
German Landscape ArtistWalter Leistikow was a German landscape artist who worked in the style of Jugendstil. In 1883, the future artist came to Berlin to study at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts, but he was not accepted. He studied painting until 1887 under the guidance of German Esche and Hans Gude. In 1892, he became one of the founding members of the artistic group "11," which opposed classical academism in painting and advocated for the development of modern art. The refusal of the organizers to exhibit Leistikow's painting "Grunewald Lake" at an art exhibition led to the establishment of the Berlin Secession in 1899.
In his landscapes, Leistikow generally followed the manner of the Barbizon school artists, but over time, he increasingly abandoned detail and descriptive elements in his paintings. Instead, he created large-format works filled with silhouettes and images created by blurred lines. At the same time, his later works show a pronounced stylization influenced by Art Nouveau, but without transitioning into the decorative formalism of the landscape.
On July 24, 1908, Leistikow took his own life due to his incurable illness at the time, syphilis. He was buried in the Steglitz Cemetery in Berlin.
