Eberhard Viegener

Eberhard Viegener (* May 30, 1890 in Soest; † May 4, 1967 in Bilme) was a German Expressionist and representative of Neue Sachlichkeit, as well as a landscape painter.

Born in Soest, Eberhard Viegener was a self-taught painter and graphic artist. After completing an apprenticeship as a painter, he worked in his father's business; regular visits to the Folkwang Museum in Hagen, where he discovered modern art, ignited his desire for an artistic career. In Zurich, where Viegener worked briefly as a decorative painter starting in 1912, he created his first original works, influenced by Wilhelm Morgner and Ferdinand Hodler. This was followed by a phase of neo-impressionistic, impasto painting style, which transitioned into an engagement with Expressionism, inspired by the early works of Wassily Kandinsky and Alexej von Jawlensky. At the same time, he began an extensive graphic print portfolio, distributed by the gallery owner Alfred Flechtheim, who also organized Viegener's first solo exhibition. In the 1920s, the artist turned to Neue Sachlichkeit, primarily painting still lifes characterized by cool formalization. A realistic-naturalistic painting style marked his creative phase in the 1930s, during which he produced numerous paintings of the local landscape of Westphalia, where Viegener had retreated to live. Paintings from his Expressionist and Neue Sachlichkeit periods were confiscated during the "Entartete Kunst" campaign. At the end of Viegener's career, he engaged with Cubism, particularly the work of Robert Delaunay.

Stylistically extremely diverse, Viegener's work reflects the development of modernity, to which he was able to add his own accents amidst its various movements.