Landscape of Dziwna from the region of Kamień Pomorski

Born in the village of Karwin in the Białogard district, Hans Hartig (1873-1936) was given his first drawing lessons by Theodor Kugelmann (1838-1909), painter and teacher at St Mary's Gymnasium in Szczecin. From 1894 Hartig continued his studies as an auditing student in the landscape painting class of Paul Vorgang at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin (Königliche Akademie der Künste zu Berlin, now Akademie der Künste). After serving in the 2. Grenadier Regiment of Frederick William IV in Szczecin, he returned to the academy and, in 1900 was placed in the master class of Eugen Bracht (1842-1921), regarded in Berlin circles as a pioneer of plein air painting. In Dresden, where Hartig moved in 1902 following Bracht, the modernist explorations of the Berliners were confronted with the innovative approach of Gotthardt Kuehl (1850-1915), who referenced to French Impressionism. This earned Hartig a silver medal for overall student achievement presented at the 1902 annual exhibition of the Königlich Sächsische Kunstgewerbeschule (Royal Saxon Academy of Fine Arts). The press praised him for his works' extraordinary expressive power and aesthetic value. The following year, it was there that he exhibited the large-scale Landscape from Dziwna in the region around Kamień Pomorski. This work, dating from Hartig's early student period of artistic activity, was created in Dresden, although it portrays a Pomeranian landscape. The work illustrates an attempt, which was typical of German painting at the turn of the century, to find one's own path between the traditions of the academy and the increasingly widespread acceptance of impressionism in Germany, understood as the most consistent form of naturalism in art - absolute fidelity to nature. After completing his education in 1906, the painter returned to Berlin, and settled there permanently. He specialised in views of Pomeranian cities, towns, and villages. Dariusz Kacprzak