Hans Schmitz-Wiedenbrück

Hans Schmitz was born in the Lippstadt / Westphalia as the son of a hotel caretaker.

Beginning in 1923, he was trained in the studio of Heinrich Repke in the nearby city of Wiedenbrück where he worked for a total of 17 years, interrupted by studies in Kassel, Munich and Brussels and study trips to Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy.

[1] The artist is especially known for his 1941 triptych Arbeiter, Bauern und Soldaten (Workers, Farmers and Soldiers, sold to Adolf Hitler for a price of 30,000 reichsmark) and the oil painting Kämpfendes Volk (Fighting People, sold to Joseph Goebbels for a price of 56,000 reichsmark) which was exhibited at the 1941 Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung (Great German Arts Exhibition) in Munich.

[4][5][6][7][8] The fact that Joseph Goebbels suggested 36 year-old Hans Schmitz for a professorship at the Düsseldorf Arts Academy in 1943 illustrates the Nazi regime's sympathies for this artist.

[9] In his native city Rheda-Wiedenbrück, an open discussion about Hans Schmitz’ role during the time of National Socialism began in 2016.