Hermann Linde: One Painter – Two Worlds
Hermann Linde: One Painter – Two Worlds

Hermann Linde: One Painter – Two Worlds

21 June 2023 Walter Kugler 4170 views

At the end of the 19th century Hermann Linde (1862–1923) was considered one of the eminent orientalist painters of his time. In 1915 Rudolf Steiner put him in charge of the painting of the First Goetheanum’s large cupola. Works from both these creative periods are shown for the first time in two exhibitions.

After completing his art studies at academies in Dresden and Weimar (1882–1889), Hermann Linde travelled widely in Italy, Tunisia and Egypt and spent several years painting in India. After returning to Germany, he joined the Dachau artists’ colony where painters such as Carl Spitzweg, Lovis Corinth, Emil Nolde, Franz Marc and Max Liebermann had also spent time.

For Hermann Linde it was a world informed by naturalism and impressionism, expressed in landscape and urban views, genre paintings and portraits. For his large-scale, 4 x 6 metre oil painting ‘The Langar Procession’ he was awarded the gold medal by the Viceroy of India. His work ‘Arabic Cobblers in Cairo’ earned him the silver medal in an exhibition at London‘s Crystal Palace.

Paintings of Hermann Linde: Bedouin Girl and Self Portrait (Oling Collection, Arlesheim (CH); Art Collection at the Goetheanum (CH))


“It can truly be said that Hermann Linde’s life unfolded in two worlds,” says Christiane Haid, head of Visual Arts and Humanities at the Goetheanum, Switzerland, because after the turn of the century and due to his close collaboration with Rudolf Steiner, a new world opened up for the painter. Suddenly, it was all about the elements, light and colour. Hermann Linde designed the stage sets for the premiere of Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas in Munich, Germany, and was put in charge of the painting work in the First Goetheanum’s large cupola in Dornach. His studies and paintings on Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s ‘Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily’ imprinted themselves in the memory of his surroundings.

English by Margot M. Saar

Exhibition 1 One painter – Two Worlds. 1863–1923, Hermann Linde. One painter – Two Worlds. 1863–1923, until 10 September 2023, Goetheanum. With catalogue

Exhibition 2 The High Art of Portrait Painting, Hermann Linde and other artists, until 10 September 2023, KunstSchauDepot, Trigon Foundation, Juraweg 2–6, Dornach, Switzerland Booking / opening hours Walter Kugler, tel. +41 79 542 99 85, John C. Ermel, tel. +41 79 321 30 38

Images, Speech and Sound On the centenary of Hermann Linde‘s death, 11 July 2023, 11 am, Goetheanum Art Gallery