Felix Albrecht Harta

Felix Albrecht Harta

Felix Albrecht Harta ca 1945

Felix Albrecht Harta né Hirsch (1884-1967) was an Austrian Expressionist painter, graphic artist, organizer, and teacher whose oeuvre consisted of portraits, nudes, landscapes, and still-lives, working in varied mediums.

Early Life 1884-1905

Felix Albrecht Harta was born Felix Albert Hirsch in Budapest on July 2, 1884, the son of a wealthy merchant, Moritz Hirsch, and his wife Theresia (née Jonas). When Harta was three years old, his father moved the family to Vienna, and Felix spent his childhood with his brother, Ernst, and sister, Alice. Later both brothers would change their surnames: Felix to Harta, and Ernst to Reinhold. Harta’s desire to be a painter clashed with his father’s insistence that he study architecture, so he spent four and a half years at the Technische Hoschule in Vienna. In the winter of 1905, Harta passed the entrance exam at the Academy München and was admitted to the painting class of Prof Hugo von Habermann. At the academy he became friends with future notable painters like Hans Eder, Jules Pascin, and Julius Schülein [1]

Early Period (1908-1918)

In 1908, Harta embarked on study trips-first to Paris, France where he studied the old masters such as Titian and Tintoretto. There he became captivated by the Impressionists like Cezanne, Manet, Renoir, Courbet, and Van Gogh. He exhibited for the first time at the Vienna Künstlerhaus and in the fall at the Salon D’ Automne in Paris. From Paris, he undertook a three-month study trip to Spain and immersed himself in the painting style of masters like Velasquez, El Greco, and Goya.

In 1909 Harta fell in with a group of young painters that included Egon Schiele, Anton Faistauer, Oskar Kokoschka, Paris von Gütersloh, and Anton Kolig. Around this time, Harta also developed a friendship with Austria’s leading painter, Gustav Klimt[2].

In 1910-1911, Harta spent a great deal of time in the old city of Bruges. Several paintings created there were exhibited in the 38th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession[3].

In the spring of 1911, he met Elisabeth Hermann (nicknamed Elly). Elly is the daughter of the Hermanns, an industrialist family who lived in Hietzing, Vienna, and owned a residential house as well as well as a  small Biedermeier-style cottage with a large garden. At the recommendation of Harta and Elly, they rented the cottage to Gustav Klimt in 1911. This property would become known as "Klimt’s Last Atelier"- usually termed "Klimt Villa" - at Feldmuhlgasse 11 in the Hietzing district[4].

In 1913, Harta exhibited in the 43rd exhibition of the Vienna Secession, and in March in the Exhibition of the Bund Österreichischer Künstler and the Collected Works Gustav Klimt at the Művészház in Budapest[5]. That summer he traveled to Paris with his friend, the painter, Albert Paris von Gütersloh. In Paris, Harta became acquainted with Futurist painters like Marinetti, Boccioni, and Severini. He visited the painters such as Maurice Utrillo and his mother, Suzanne Valadon, and also met Auguste Rodin and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.[6] In November and December, along with Erwin Lang and Bernard Loeffler, they organized The International Black and White Exhibition in Vienna. In the exhibition catalog, Gütersloh wrote an essay on Harta’s “Street Scene from Montparnasse”. He explains how Harta excludes everything that could evoke ideas from the beholder, and in great detail explains how the drawing evokes imaginative movement, and how Harta's drawings are "physiognomy". [7]

On April 22 1914, Harta married Elisabeth in Vienna and their first child, Eva Maria, was born on December 31. Eva Harta would grow up to be a successful commercial artist in her own right.[8] An interesting story is that Harta visited Egon Schiele's studio, and Schiele drew a sketch of baby Eva, that unfortunately is lost.

In January 1916, Harta showed 9 oil paintings and 22 drawings in the Berlin Secession Exhibition along with such notables as Schiele, Klimt, Kokoschka and Kolomon Moser .

Harta was drafted and entered into military service on November 6, 1916. He first served as a volunteer for one year with the Imperial-Royal (k.u.k.), Train Replacement Division No, 16 in Mostar.[9] He was unhappy about being in an infantry division, so he wrote to Klimt who approved his request to be assigned to the War Press Quarters, as a war painter.[10] During this time, he drew and painted numerous portraits of pilots, especially of the 6th, 10th, and 11th Army. He also drew airfields, peasant scenes, and landscapes in the Italian theater of the war and Eastern Galicia.[11][12] Harta also exhibited in War Exhibitions in Vienna from 1917-18.

Inter-war Period (1918-1938)

In March of 1918, Harta rejoined his family, who had moved to Salzburg. There he began to cultivate relationships with people such as the writers, Stefan Zweig, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Oskar A.H. Schmitz, Hermann Bahr, the Theater director, Max Reinhardt, the painter, Alfred Kubin, the Mozarteum director, Bernhard Paumgartner, and the Hotelier and writer, Alois Grasmayr. They met regularly at the Café Bazar and the Hotel Bristol and were frustrated at the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, while being united in their desire to create a new artistic vision for Austria. Harta strongly advocated for the idea of an artistic association in Salzburg:

"Salzburg had turned from a sleepy town into a culture center. Out of the dislocation of the disintegration of the monarchy arose in all of us the common wish of creating a new Austria of the muses out of the left-over pieces, which was the birth of an artist's union."-Felix Harta [13]

He already had cultivated such societies in Munich, Paris, and Vienna.[14] He carried on a robust letter exchange with his friend, and artist-colleague, Anton Faistauer, who argued against founding a new artistic association.[15] Harta however persists, and a letter from Faistauer dated Jan. 9th 1919 confirms that the initiative to found the new artistic association derives from Harta.[16] The new rebellious association was called “Der Wassermann” (Aquarius in English), and Harta was named President and is listed as a founding member [17]. The first “Wassermann” exhibit opened on August, 3, 1919, with Harta featuring ten oils; other notable participants were A.P. Gutersloh, Faistauer, Oskar A.Vonwiller, Anton Kolig, Robin C. Andersen, Alfred Kubin, Broncia Koller-Pinell, Franz Wiegele, and Egon Schiele (posthumously). The exhibit not only focused on painting, but included sub-divisions for graphics, music, and literature. The first exhibition was a success judging by attendance and setting a record[18]. However, critics were polarized with some being very positive, and others negative. Today it is recognized that “Der Wassermann” introduced modern art to Salzburg, and contributed greatly to its cultural development[19]. Two additional exhibitions took place in 1920 and 1921. Harta and Faistauer also arranged for a monument to the Austrian painter, Hans Makart at his birthplace in Salzburg. Finally, both worked to establish a modern painting academy in Salzburg but the lack of financial support from the city and state brought a swift end to this groundbreaking idea.[20]

In 1920 Harta arranged for permanent exhibition space in the Neue Galerie in what today is Salzburg's Alter Markt(old market)[21].Many of Austria's most prominent artists showed their oils and graphics including Faistauer, Harta, Kokoschka, and Klimt and Schiele(posthumously)[22].

On March 24th, 1921, Harta was baptized into the Catholic faith, with the critic, playwright, and scholar, Hermann Bahr serving as his Godfather[23]. Harta and his wife celebrated the birth of their second child, Klaudius(Claude) on October 29th, 1921.

In early 1924, Harta returned to Vienna, and in March he exhibited twenty-four oil paintings and thirty-seven graphics in the Künstlerhaus of the Cooperative of Fine Artists in Vienna. At the same time, he became a member of the Hagenbund. Harta participated in many of their exhibitions and served on many of the executive and hanging committees. In June of 1928 the Hagenbund presented a themed show on the 'Family', including a collection of 36 oil paintings by Harta that received favorable reviews. He designed the posters for the 1931 European Plastik Exhibition, and the 58th and 66th Hagenbund Exhibitions. From 1929-31 he served as the Secretary, and functioned as the Vice President in 1932 and 1933. This period is also filled with many exhibitions throughout Europe. Recent research into the Hagenbund Network shows that Harta was one of only twelve artists that most often exhibited in the Hagenbund between 1930 and 1938.

Harta was also a driving force in support of leading Austrian Expressionist Dancers. In January of 1933 he shows numerous watercolors at the International Graphics Exhibition, "The Dance", Gothic to the Present". In 1934 he served on The Prominent Jury of the International Dance Competition and Folk Dance, Vienna. [24] Despite the German occupation in 1938, Harta allows the well-known expressionist dancer, Hilde Holger to have dance lessons and secret performances in his studio.

During 1926 and 1927, he returned to Paris and Southern France. He exhibited at the Salon d’Automne, Paris, The Salon du Franc, the Café du Dome, and L’Exposition Internationale des Beaux, where he receives the Diplôme d’Honneur, Bourdeaux[25]. In 1929, he receives the Austrian state prize for his poster of the Vienna Festival Week.[26] During this time, Harta took on pupils such as Ilse Tauber, and the artist, Frieda Salvendy.[27].

In 1927 the Hartas adopted a young woman named Gusti Wolf who would become a renowned Austrian stage, screen, and television actress. She credited being adopted by Harta as changing the trajectory of her life[28]. Harta drew numerous portraits of her, and his most notable painting of her hangs in the foyer of the Vienna Burgtheater.

1938 was not a good year for Harta. First, there was a fire in the Neue Galerie, where many of his paintings were destroyed. Then, on March 12, 1938, the Germans occupied Austria (the Anschluss). Despite Harta’s conversion to Roman-Catholicism, he would be forced to leave Vienna in June 1939, and emigrated to England, where he settled in Cambridge.

Emigration and Stay in England (1939-1950)

Initially his time in England is marked by trauma and difficulty. In May of 1940, he was arrested by British authorities, and taken to a concentration camp at Huyton, near Liverpool where the British determined who was a German sympathizer or spy. After three and a half months of hardship, he was released, and returned to Cambridge. In the fall of 1940, his apartment in Cambridge is bombed in the German Blitz attacks.[29]

These difficult experiences are critical to understanding the direction of his stylistic development, wherein his paintings become more conservative and the expressionistic tendencies begin to diminish. It has been speculated that he was traumatized by his forced emigration, loss of wealth, and his temporary arrest, and his internment. He also is penniless, and needed to earn a living via commissioned drawings of aristocrats and family portraits. Despite these challenges, he managed in 1942 to have two solo exhibitions of his drawings and watercolors organized by the architect, Professor Albert Richardson at the Heffer Gallery in Cambridge, where he receives favorable reviews from the Cambridge Daily News. He also participated in the First Group Exhibition of German, Austrian, Czechoslovakian Painters and Sculptors at the Wertheim Gallery in London in June of 1939 and in the Foyle’s Gallery in London in 1945. He also drew and painted numerous countryside landscapes of Suffolk, Sussex, and Essex. [30].

Return to Salzburg and Later Life (1950-1967)

In the spring of 1950, Harta returned to Salzburg. He exhibited his English watercolors and drawings in a collective exhibition at the Salzburg Künstlerhaus,[31] and resumed relationships with his old friends, and a large circle of Salzburg celebrities. According to his personal records, he was deeply occupied with thoughts of religious content, motivated by his experiences during the war. This preoccupation with religious themes was not new, since many of his post WWI paintings were religious in nature.

In September 1954 on the occasion of Harta's 70th birthday, a collective exhibition of Harta's life work was presented at the Salzburg Künstlerhaus. In April 1955 the Staatsdruckerei Vienna opened a collective of Harta's oeuvre where he exhibited around 100 oil paintings and an approximately equal number of watercolors and drawings. In 1956, he organized the Internationale Portrait Ausstellung which took place between July 19 to August 12 in the Salzburg Künstlerhaus. Harta contacted his friends and colleagues scattered across the world for help in bringing portraits for the exhibition. Many countries and notable artists were represented, such as Albert Birkle, Albert Paris Gütersloh, Oskar Kokoschka, Anton Kolig and Carry Hauser. The catalog shows that Harta exhibited six works, two oils, two watercolors, a charcoal, and an etching[32]. During this time, he painted many portraits, and was considered to be the leading portraitist of Salzburg society. He drew luminaries such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert Von Karajan, and Clemens Holzmeister. In 1956 he painted President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s portrait, which was presented to Ike as a gift.[33]

In Dec of 1959, Harta’s wife, Elisabeth passes after a long illness. In the fall of 1960, he marries the Baroness Margarethe Daisy De Baillou, and they live together quietly in the Pfeiffergasse in Salzburg.

In a diary entry, in 1960, Harta philosophizes about his life:

“A strange time, a time of tension and fulfillment, of expectation and resignation, problems pile up wherever I look, and yet I stand Inwardly above them; perhaps lack of ambition is the reason I have already achieved so much in life and lost so much, so the feeling of joy is muted and I do not think much of happiness. The world in which I live is alien to me I miss any relationship with atoms, moon rockets, and whatever kind of mind agitates today. Man does not change, he has remained the same with all his faults and virtues.”

Professor Harta died on November 27, 1967 at the age of 83. His paintings and graphic work continue to be exhibited posthumously, and many curators include at least one Harta work in retrospectives on Austrian Expressionism from 1908 to 1938. Two major museums, The Belvedere Museum, Vienna, and the Salzburg Museum collaborated on a large groundbreaking exhibition that received international attention entitled: “Faistauer, Schiele, Harta & Co: Painting Unites Us” from July 12 to October 13, 2019 at the Salzburg Museum. This exhibit focused on several connecting themes between these three notable artists. This exhibition advanced and clarified Harta's role in the development of classical Austrian modernism.[34]

Awards

Diploma of Honour, Munich Art Academy, 1907

Great Gold Medal of the Austrian State, 1919

Prize of the Austrian State, 1929

Prize of Honour of the City of Vienna, 1934

Diplome d’ Honneur de I’ Exposition Internationale de Bordeaux, 1927

Selected Museums Where Works Reside

Albertina Museum, Vienna

Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria

Museum Carolino-Augusteum, Salzburg, Austria

Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria

Leopold Museum, Vienna

Musuem der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria

Museum of Military History, Vienna

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Selected Works

Further Reading:

-Baumgartner, Edith K. in Salzburg Archiv 14: “ Der Maler Felix Albrecht Harta (1884 -1967):” Initiator und Kampfer fur die Etablierung der Moderne in Salzburg” Writings of the Association of Friends of Salzburg History, Salburg 1992.

-Hagenbund Die Verlorene Moderne: Der Künstelrbund Hagen 1900-1938: , Vienna, 1993.

-Nikolaus Schaffer: Der Schreckensengle und die Märchenkönige. Zwei Hauptwerke von Felix Albrecht Harta (1884 -1967) , Salzburg Museum, in Das Kunstwerk des Monats, Jg. 8, Nr. 82, Salzburg, January 1995.

-www.faharta.com

Notes

[1] Edith Karolina Baumgartner in: Felix Albrecht Harta (1884-1967), Phil. Dissertation Vol. I, University of Salzburg 1991, pp. 1-7.

[2] Edith K. Baumgartner, pg. 30-32.

[3] Catalog 38th Ausstellung der Vereinigung bildener Kunstler Osterreichs, Secession, Wien, April-July 1911.

[4] Sandra Tretter, P. Weinhaupl, Felizitas Schreier, Georg Becker (Ed.) in: Gustav Klimt Atelier Feldmuhlgasse 1911-1918, Gustav Klimt Foundation, Vienna, 2014.

[5] Edith K. Baumgartner, (See Footnote #1), pg. 70-71.

[6] Edith K. Baumgartner, (See Footnote #1), pg. 26-27.

[7] Paris Von Gustersloh: “Backgrounds for F.A. Harta’s Depictions of Montparnasse in Paris” in: Exhibition Catalog of the International Black and White Exhibition in Vienna, Nov, 1913.

[8] Personal Records from the F.A. Harta Estate, Salzburg Museum.

[9] Personal Records from the F.A. Harta Estate, Salzburg Museum.

[10] Correspondence in the possession of the Austrian War Archives. Attachment Nr. 2 in Edith K. Baumgartner’s Phil. Diss, Felix Albrecht Harta (1884-1967) Univ of Salzburg, Vol. 1, pg 261.

[11] Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Militärwissenschaftliches Institut): "Fliegen 90/71", Katalog zur Ausstellung, Band II: Fliegen im Ersten Weltkrieg, Gemälde und Zeichnungen. Wien 1971.

[12] Kriegsbilder Ausstellung des k. u. k. Kriegspressequartiers, Ausst. Kat. Künstlerhaus Wien, 03.–25.03.1918

[13] Christa Svoboda in "Zur Geschichte des Salzburger Kunstvereins, ", pg. 39. (Based on the memoirs of F.A. Harta) in: Phil. Diss Salzburg. Pg. 108ff.

[14] Eva Jandl-Jorg in Catalog “Faistauer, Schiele, Harta & Co:Painting Unites Us, Salzburg Museum, 2019, pg. 62,

[15] Fuhrtmann, Fritz, Ed.: Anton Faistauer, Letters to F.A. Harta, Salzburg Musuem, 1961.

[16] Ibid, pg. 48/49.

[17] Annual Report 1918/1919 Wassermann, pg. 8. See also Edith Baumgartner, Felix Albrecht Harta, Vol. 1, Diss, Univ of Salzburg, pg 136. Contrary to many histories, Faistauer was secluded in Maishofen, and was not involved in the actual work in organizing the first exhibition. According to the Annual Report, he is listed as a “member without function” in the catalog. (E. K. Baumgartner, Phil. Diss, Vol. 1, pg. 271, quoted from F.A. Hartas “Memories of Faistauer”. Faistauer does contribute to the new association, once it was established, and continued to work with Harta on other projects.

[18] Eva Jandl-Jorg. “” The Wassermann” A European forum for living art”. In: Faistauer, Schiele, Harta & Co. Painting Unites Us, Salzburg Musuem, 2019, pg. 73.

[19] Kaut, Josef “Again Wassermann-exhibition” in Catalog of the Jubilee Exhibition Der Wassermann, July 15-18 at the Salzburg Artist Association to Celebrate the 125th Year of the Salzburg Artist Association (Kunstverein).

[20] Edith K. Baumgartner, pp. 145-8.

[21] Faistauer, Schiele, Harta & Co., 2019 p.78

[22] Theater, art, and literature, Salzburg in Anticipation, New Wiener Tagblatt, August 22, 1920, pg. 11

[23] Baptismal Record entry XX. P. 13. No. 25 Parish of St. Andrae, Salzburg.

[24] Agnes Husslein-Arco, M. Boeckl, et. al.(Ed) in: Hagenbund A European Network of Modernism, Belvedere, Vienna, Hirmer Verlag GmbH, Munich, 2014; Fig. 9 p 25; E.K Baumgartner(See Footnote 1) pg. 100.

[25]Baumgartner 1991 I, pg. 47.

[26] Ibid, pg 52.

[27] Ibid, pg 49.

[28] Dagmar Saval in: Gusti Wolf: Erzahlt aus Ihrem Leben”, Bohlau Verlag, Wien, 2001, pp. 19-21.

[29] “Between Salzburg and Cambridge: A Returning Austrian Tells the Story” in: Salzbuger Volkszeitung v. June 17, 1950-quoted from the article by W. Schaup.

[30] Personal Records from the F.A. Harta Estate, Salzburg Museum.

[31] Edith K. Baumgartner, pg. 103.

[32] Catalog of the International Portrait Ausstellung, Salzburg, Kunstlerhaus, July, 19-Aug, 26, 1956.

[33] Letter from President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Claude Harta, October 1, 1956. Salzburg Museum Harta Archive, BIB NLFH 00011, pg. 16 in pdf. 

[34] Stella Rolig and Martin Hochleitner in: Faistauer, Schiele, Harta & Co: Malerei Verbindet, Salzburg Musuem, 2019, Vorwort, pg. 7.