Swans in the Park

Volcker Hans was born on October 12, 1865 in Pyrzyce, Poland. Hans was the son of a pastor, orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandfather.

Hans Volcker was a painter of landscapes, seascapes, still lives and portraits. He also painted in watercolour and fresco techniques.

In 1885, Volcker was a student of famed Norwegian realist painter Hans Fredrik Gude (1825 – 1903) at the Berlin Academy. His teacher encouraged him to travel to Scandinavia. During his study trips, he made landscape paintings of Scandinavian mountain and lakes, that brought him later great recognition.

In 1891, he led his own plein air painting school. The most famous pupils were german sculptor and painter Margarethe Haeffner (1884 – 1977) and the painter Oskar Moll (1875 – 1947).

With his Berlin friend painter Walter Leistikow (1865 – 1908), who was also a pupil of Gude, he shared an admiration for Max Liebermann (1847 – 1935). His acquaintance with Liebermann’s paintings furthered his stylistic development to an Impressionism.

In 1894 he lived in Munich and moved to Wiesbaden in 1899, where he was active as a contemporary artist and as a member of the Art Societies, presenting Max Liebermann, Fritz Overbeck or Lovis Corinth, among others.

Today, particular importance is attached to the “Dutch Secession” exhibition, featuring paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Jan Toorop. In 1912, the society showed paintings by Alexei Jawlensky for the first time.

In 1905, he stayed in Southern Africa for a year, visiting, among other places, the Victoria Falls of the Zambezi.

Painter died on January 16, 1944 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Hans Völcker is buried at the Südfriedhof.

Today, his paintings can be found in private and public collections including the Wiesbaden Museum and the Wiesbaden City Museum, among others. A large collection of dune landscapes which he painted in Friesland, found their way into Heinrich Kirchhoff’s art collection.