Hans Purrmann
Rare BookHans Purrmann (1880–1966) is regarded as one of the most important German artists of the first half of the twentieth century.
His work as a painter, printmaker, and writer on art was profoundly shaped by his engagement with the art of Paul Cézanne and by his close association with Henri Matisse.
Purrmann’s oeuvre of watercolours and gouaches comprises more than four hundred catalogued works. The earliest surviving sheets date from his years of artistic training, while his final watercolour was made in Levanto shortly before his death. Alongside the artists of Die Brücke, Purrmann stands out as one of the most accomplished watercolourists in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s—a period that marks the central focus of his work with this medium.
Equally compelling are the watercolours created later in Italy, predominantly devoted to landscape motifs, as well as the particularly delicate works on paper produced during his stays on Ischia in the 1950s. These works reveal a sustained sensitivity to colour, light, and structure that runs consistently through Purrmann’s practice.
