Walter Schnackenberg

Die Rauschtranke, 1949
 Escaping over the roof, 1955
 The decapitated girl and the bat, 1949
 In the mountain gorge, 1949

Good and Evil, 1948

The stage Performers, 1958
 The curious dinosaur, 1950

Lichtscheues Gesindel, 1950
 Surreal Figures In a rocky landscape, 1957

Surreal figures over the pyramids, 1957
 The embrace, 1949

Modes, 1951
 Unterwelt, 1951

The sleepwalker, 1956
 Death on the stage, 1957
 Die Virtuosin, 1949
 A young girl exploring a river in a gorge, 1949
 Die Schere, 1950
 Place Blanche, 1948
 An der Bar, 1956
 Das Komitee, 1958

Das Vergnugen, 1950
 Ein Karussell träumt, 1950
 A surreal conversation, 1948
 Die Krone der Schöpfung, 1948
 Spinne mit Maulkorb, 1958


"Born in Bad Lauterburg in 1880, Walter Schnackenberg found his vocation as a draughtsman and painter while still very young. At 19 he went to Munich, where he at first attended Heinrich Knirr's painting school before going on directly, like so many of his contemporaries, to study at the Franz von Stuck Academy. Drawing is Schnackenberg's strong point. His lively imagination made him particularly good at caricature. He drew for the celebrated magazines 'Jugend' and 'Simplizissimus'. His themes were theatre and the comic muse. Travelling extensively, Schnackenberg often went to Paris, where he was especially interested in the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. As a print-maker, Schnackenberg devoted himself mainly to poster art and his most mature work is in this genre. He was also well-known as a designer of stage scenery and costumes. With his evident preference for frivolous ladies, he was highly fashionable in his day. Schnackenberg does not have the acutely critical approach of a Grosz or a Hubbuch. Instead, his works resemble those of Jeanne Mammen, who devoted herself to portraying pert Berlin girls. During the late phase of his career, Schnackenberg introduced surreal elements into his work. People with bestial, mask-like faces were intended to symbolize the unsatisfied lusts and addictions of the petty bourgeois. Schnackenberg spent his last years in Rosenheim and died there in 1961." - quote source from a now defunct website devoted to the artist.

All artworks found thanks to Will Schofield at 50 Watts. See all of the original posts on Walter Schnackenberg from 50 Watts here.