Heinrich Knirr

Heinrich Knirr (2 September 1862 – 26 May 1944) was an Austrian Empire-born German painter, known for his genre scenes and portraits, although he also did landscapes and still-lifes.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, with Christian Griepenkerl and Carl Wurzinger, then attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where he took lessons from Gabriel von Hackl and Ludwig Löfftz.

[2] During the Nazi régime, he remained popular and, in 1937, was represented at the first Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung at the Haus der Kunst in Munich, with one of his portraits of Adolf Hitler.

[1] Over the next few years, he exhibited fourteen works there altogether, including portraits of Hitler's private chauffeur, Julius Schreck, and his mother Klara.

He also did the official portrait of Rudolf Hess, and Albert Speer often referred to him as the "court painter".

Heinrich Knirr (c.1910/14); photograph by Theodor Hilsdorf
"Hitler, the Creator of the Third Reich and Renewer of German Art" (German: Adolf Hitler, der Schöpfer des Dritten Reiches und Erneuerer der deutschen Kunst ), Hitler 's official portrait in 1937 by Knirr [ 4 ]