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Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch ( 15 April 1832 – 9 January 1908 ) was a German humorist , poet , illustrator and painter . He published comic illustrated cautionary tales from 1859 , achieving his most notable works in the 1870s . Busch 's illustrations used wood engraving , and later , zincography . |
Busch drew on contemporary parochial and city life , satirizing Catholicism , Philistinism , strict religious morality and bigotry . His comic text was colourful and entertaining , using onomatopoeia , neologisms and other figures of speech , and led to some work being banned by the authorities . |
Busch was influential in both poetry and illustration , and became a source for future generations of comic artists . The Katzenjammer Kids was inspired by Busch 's Max and Moritz , one of a number of imitations produced in Germany and the United States . The Wilhelm Busch Prize and the Wilhelm Busch Museum help maint... |
= = Family background = = |
In the late 18th century Johann Georg Kleine , Wilhelm Busch 's maternal grandfather , settled in the small village of Wiedensahl . There , in 1817 , he bought a thatched half @-@ timbered house , where Wilhelm Busch was to be born about 15 years later . Amalie Kleine , Johann 's wife and Wilhelm Busch 's grandmother ... |
At the age of 19 Henriette Kleine married surgeon Friedrich Wilhelm Stümpe . Henriette became widowed at the age of 26 , with her three children to Stümpe dying as infants . About 1830 Friedrich Wilhelm Busch , the illegitimate son of a farmer , settled in Wiedensahl after completing a business apprenticeship in the n... |
= = Life = = |
= = = Childhood = = = |
Wilhelm Busch was born on 15 April 1832 , the first of seven children to the marriage of Henriette Kleine and Friedrich Wilhelm Busch . His six siblings followed shortly after : Fanny ( 1834 ) , Gustav ( 1836 ) , Adolf ( 1838 ) , Otto ( 1841 ) , Anna ( 1843 ) and Hermann ( 1845 ) ; all survived childhood . His parents... |
The young Wilhelm Busch was a tall child , but with a rather delicate and graceful physique . The coarse boyishness of his later protagonists " Max and Moritz " was rare in his childhood . He described himself in autobiographical sketches and letters as sensitive and timid , as someone who " carefully studied apprehen... |
In the autumn of 1841 , after the birth of his brother Otto , Busch 's education was entrusted to the 35 @-@ year @-@ old clergyman Georg Kleine , his maternal uncle at Ebergötzen , this probably through lack of space in the Busch family home , and his father 's desire for a better education than the small local schoo... |
Kleine 's private lessons for Busch were also attended by Erich Bachmann , the son of a wealthy Ebergötzen miller . Both became friends , according to Busch the strongest friendship of his childhood . This friendship was echoed in the 1865 story Max and Moritz . A small pencil portrait by the 14 @-@ year @-@ old Busch... |
Kleine was a philologist , his lessons not held in contemporary language , and it is not known for certain all subjects Busch and his friend were taught . Busch did learn elementary arithmetic from his uncle , although science lessons might have been more comprehensive , as Kleine , like many other clergymen , was a b... |
Busch had little contact with his natural parents during this period . At the time , the 165 km ( 103 mi ) journey between Wiedensahl and Ebergötzen took three days by horse . His father visited Ebergötzen two to three times a year , while his mother stayed in Wiedensahl to look after the children . The 12 @-@ year @-... |
= = = Study = = = |
In September 1847 Busch began studying mechanical engineering at Hanover Polytechnic . Busch 's biographers are not in agreement as to why his Hanover education ended ; most believe that his father had little appreciation of his son 's artistic inclination . Biographer Eva Weissweiler suspects that Kleine played a maj... |
Busch studied for nearly four years at Hanover , despite initial difficulties in understanding the subject matter . A few months before graduation he confronted his parents with his aspiration to study at the Düsseldorf Art Academy . According to Bush 's nephew Hermann Nöldeke , his mother supported this inclination .... |
= = = Munich = = = |
Busch was ravaged by disease , and for five months spent time painting and collecting folk tales , legends , songs , ballads , rhymes and fragments of regional superstitions . Busch 's biographer Joseph Kraus saw these collections as useful additions to folklore , as Busch noted the narrative background to tales and t... |
After Busch had spent six months with his uncle Kleine at Lüthorst , he expressed an aim to continue study in Munich . This request caused a rift with his father who , however , eventually funded this move ; - see for comparison Busch 's illustrated story of Painter Klecksel . Busch 's expectations of the Munich Acade... |
Busch made contact with the artist association Jung München ( Young Munich ) , met several notable Munich artists , and wrote and provided cartoons for the Jung München newspaper . Kaspar Braun , who published the satirical newspapers Münchener Bilderbogen ( Picture Sheets from Munich ) and Fliegende Blätter ( Flying ... |
In his early Munich years Busch 's attempt to write libretti , which are almost forgotten today , were unsuccessful . Up to 1863 he worked on two or three major works ; the third was composed by Georg Kremplsetzer . Busch 's Liebestreu und Grausamkeit , a romantic opera in three acts , Hansel und Gretel and Der Vetter... |
In 1873 Busch returned several times to Munich , and took part in the intense life of the Munich Art Society as an escape from provincial life . In 1877 , in a last attempt to be a serious artist , he took a studio in Munich . He left Munich abruptly in 1881 , after he disrupted a variety show and subsequently made a ... |
= = = Publication of Max and Moritz = = = |
Between 1860 and 1863 Busch wrote over one hundred articles for the Münchener Bilderbogen and Fliegende Blätter , but he felt his dependence on publisher Kaspar Braun had become constricting . Busch appointed Dresden publisher Heinrich Richter , the son of Saxon painter Ludwig Richter , as his new publisher — Richter ... |
For Braun the manuscript was fortuitous . Initially the sales of Max and Moritz were slow , but sales figures improved after the 1868 second edition . Overall there were 56 editions and more than 430 @,@ 000 copies sold up to Busch 's death in 1908 . Despite at first being ignored by critics , teachers in the 1870s de... |
= = = Frankfurt = = = |
Increasing economic success allowed Busch to visit Wiedensahl more frequently . Busch had decided to leave Munich , as only few relatives lived there , and the artists ' association was temporarily disbanded . In June 1867 Busch met his brother Otto for the first time , in Frankfurt . Otto was working as a tutor to th... |
Busch did not remain in Frankfurt . Towards the end of the 1860s he alternated between Wiedensahl and Lüthorst , and Wolfenbüttel where his brother Gustav lived . The association with Johanna Kessler lasted five years , and after his return to Wiedensahl in 1872 they communicated by letter . This contact was interrupt... |
= = = Later life = = = |
Biographer Weissweiler does not dismiss the possibility that Busch 's increasing alcohol dependence hindered self @-@ criticism . He refused invitations to parties , and publisher Otto Basserman sent him to Wiedensahl to keep his alcohol problem undetected from those around him . Busch was also a heavy smoker , result... |
Dutch writer Marie Anderson corresponded with Busch . More than fifty letters were exchanged between January and October 1875 in which they discussed philosophy , religion and ethics . Although only one Anderson letter survives , Busch 's letters are in manuscripts . They met in Mainz in October 1875 , after which he ... |
Busch lived with his sister Fanny 's family after her husband Pastor Hermann Nöldeke 's death in 1879 . His nephew Adolf Nöldeke remembers that Busch wanted to move back to Wiedensahl with the family . Busch renovated the house , which Fanny looked after even though he was a rich man , and became " father " to his thr... |
Busch stopped painting in 1896 and signed @-@ over all publication rights to Bassermann Verlag for 50 @,@ 000 gold marks . Busch , now aged 64 , felt old . He needed spectacles for writing and painting , and his hands trembled slightly . In 1898 , together with his aging sister Fanny Nöldeke , he accepted Bassermann '... |
= = Work = = |
During the Frankfort period Busch published three self @-@ contained illustrated satires . Their anti @-@ clerical themes proved popular during the Kulturkampf . Busch 's satires typically did not address political questions , but exaggerated churcheyness , superstition and philistine double @-@ standards . This exagg... |
= = = Max and Moritz = = = |
In German Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen , Max and Moritz is a series of seven illustrated stories concerning the mischievous antics of two boys , who are eventually ground @-@ down and fed to ducks . |
= = = Saint Antonius of Padua and Helen Who Couldn 't Help It = = = |
In Saint Antonius of Padua ( Der Heilige Antonius von Padua ) Busch challenges Catholic belief . It was released by the publisher Moritz Schauenburg at the time Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of papal infallibility that was harshly criticized by Protestants . The publisher 's works were heavily scrutinized or censo... |
Busch 's following work , Helen Who Couldn 't Help It ( Die fromme Helene ) , was published by Otto Friedrich Bassermann , a friend whom Busch met in Munich . Helen Who Couldn 't Help It , which was soon translated into other European languages , satirizes religious hypocrisy and dubious morality : |
Many details from Helen Who Couldn 't Help It criticizes the way of life of the Kesslers . Johanna Kessler was married to a much older man and entrusted her children to governesses and tutors , while she played an active role in the social life of Frankfurt . |
The character of Mr. Schmock — the name based on the Yiddish insult " schmuck " — shows similarities with Johanna Kessler 's husband , who was uninterested in art and culture . |
In the second part of Helen Who Couldn 't Help It Busch attacks Catholic pilgrimages . The childless Helen goes on a pilgrimage , accompanied by her cousin and Catholic priest Franz . The pilgrimage is successful as later Helen gives birth to twins , who resemble Helen and Franz . Franz is later killed by a jealous va... |
Pater Filucius ( Father Filucius ) is the only illustrated satire of this period suggested by the publisher . Also aimed at anti @-@ Catholic taste and buyers , it criticizes the Jesuit Order . Kraus felt it was the weakest of all three anti @-@ clerical works . Some satires refer to contemporary events , such as Mons... |
= = = Critique of the Heart = = = |
Busch did not write further illustrated tales for a while , and focused on the literary Kritik des Herzens ( Critique of the Heart ) , wanting to appear more serious to his readers . Contemporary reception for the collection of 81 poems was mainly poor ; it was criticized for its focus on marriage and sexuality . His ... |
= = = Adventures of a Bachelor = = = |
Notwithstanding the hiatus after moving from Frankfurt , the 1870s were one of Busch 's most productive decades . In 1874 he produced the short illustrated tale Diddle @-@ Boom ! ( Dideldum ! ) . |
Following , in 1875 , was the Knopp Trilogy , about the life of Tobias Knopp : Adventures of a Bachelor ( Abenteuer eines Junggesellen ) , Mr. and Mrs. Knopp ( Herr und Frau Knopp ) ( 1876 ) , and " Julie " ( Julchen ) ( 1877 ) . The antagonists of the trilogy are not pairs of nuisances as with Max and Moritz or Jack ... |
In the first part of the trilogy , Knopp is depressed and will look for a wife . He visits his old friends and their wives who he finds in unenviable relationships . Still not convinced that the life of a bachelor is one for him , he returns home , and without further ado proposes to his housekeeper . The following ma... |
According to Wessling , Busch became skeptical of marriage after writing the story . To Marie Anderson he wrote : " I will never marry ( ... ) I am already in good hands with my sister " . |
= = = Last works = = = |
Among Busch 's last works were the stories Clement Dove , the Poet Thwarted ( Balduin Bählamm , der verhinderte Dichter ) ( 1883 ) and Painter Squirtle ( Maler Klecksel ) ( 1884 ) , both of which focus on artistic failure , and indirectly his own failure . Both stories begin with a preface , which , for biographer Jos... |
The prose play Edwards Dream ( Eduards Traum ) was released in 1891 , composed of several small grouped episodes , rather than one linear storyline . The work received mixed reception . Joseph Kraus felt it was the peak of Busch 's life 's work , his nephews called it a masterwork of world literature , and the publish... |
= = = Painting = = = |
Busch felt his painting skills could not compete with those of the Dutch masters . He regarded few of his paintings as finished , often stacking them one on top of the other in damp corners of his studio , where they stuck together . If the pile of paintings became too high , he burnt some in his garden . Since only a... |
Many pictures depict the countryside at Wiedensahl and Lüthorst . They include pollarded willows , cottages in cornfields , cowherds , autumn landscapes and meadows with streams . A particular feature is the use of red jackets , found in about 280 of 1000 Busch paintings and drawings . The muted or bright red coats ar... |
The influence of Dutch painters is clearly visible in Busch 's work . " Hals diluted and shortened ( ... ) but still Halsian " , wrote Paul Klee after visiting a Busch memorial exhibition in 1908 . A strong influence on Busch was Adriaen Brouwer , whose themes were farming and inn life , rustic dances , card players ,... |
= = Themes , technique and style = = |
Busch biographer Joseph Kraus divided his work into three periods . He points out , however , that this classification is a simplification , as some works by their nature can be of a later or earlier period . All three periods show Busch 's obsession with German middle class life . His peasants are devoid of sensitivi... |
From 1858 to 1865 Busch chiefly worked for the Fliegenden Blätter and the Münchener Bilderbogen . The period from 1866 to 1884 is characterized by his major illustrated stories , such as Helen Who Couldn 't Help It . These stories are different in theme from works of his earlier period . The life of his characters sta... |
From 1885 until his death in 1908 his work was dominated by prose and poems . The 1895 prose text Der Schmetterling contains autobiographical accounts . Peter 's enchantment by the witch Lucinde , of whom he regards himself a slave , is possibly in reference to Johanna Kessler . Peter , like Busch , returns to his bir... |
= = = Technique = = = |
Publisher Kaspar Braun , who commissioned Busch 's first illustrations , had established the first workshop in Germany to use wood engraving . This letterpress printing technique was developed by English graphic artist Thomas Bewick near the end of the 18th century and became the most widely used reproduction system f... |
From the mid @-@ 1870s Busch 's illustrations were printed using zincography . With this technique there was no longer any danger that a wood engraver could change the character of his drawings . The originals were photographed and transferred onto a photosensitive zinc plate . This process allowed for the application... |
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