Beautiful with wine carafe | Leopold Schmutzler | Painting Art Print | Wall Frame

Schöne mit Weinkaraffe (Beautiful with wine carafe).

Leopold Schmutzler was a Bohemian-born German painter. He specialized in portraits, semi-erotic female figures, and Rococo-style genre scenes. In his later years, he became associated with the Nazi Party.

His style was generally realistic with Art-Deco elements. He always paid great attention to his subject's clothing but, conversely, also painted many nudes. In the thirties, he became a supporter of the Nazis and created a series of works that reflected the Blut und Boden ideology. In 1940, not long before his death, Jungfrauen nach der Arbeit (Maidens after Work) won a major award at the "Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung" in the Haus der Kunst and was purchased by Hitler for 7,000 Reichsmarks.

His association with the Nazi regime virtually destroyed his career outside Germany, and his posthumous reputation, although his works may still be seen at several museums, including the Frye Art Museum in Seattle whose founder, Charles Frye (1858–1940), was a great admirer of Schmutzler's pre–Nazi work.