Theodor Schindler, Still Life with Toys, 1910, Impressionism

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Theodor Schindler

Malsch 1870 - 1950

Still Life with Toys, 1910

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated upper left

Size: … Read more Theodor Schindler

Malsch 1870 - 1950

Still Life with Toys, 1910

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated upper left

Size: approx. 58.5 x 74.5 cm

Frame: approx. 67 x 82 cm

Good condition


Theodor Schindler was born in 1870 in Malsch, the son of the Schindler family. His mother was née Kastner, and her family had long owned the "Hirsch" inn in Malsch. His father, Franz Karl Schindler, came from Waldprechtsweier. He had seven siblings, four of whom died in infancy. The Kastner family was relatively wealthy and collected furniture and books. When Schindler began to draw, his mother recognized his talent and encouraged him as much as possible. After school, he began training as a drawing teacher at the Karlsruhe School of Applied Arts, which he completed in 1889. His father died that same year.
When he was offered a position as a drawing teacher, he asked for leave and began studying art at the Grand Ducal Academy of Arts in Karlsruhe. He studied there from 1891 to 1895 under Ferdinand Keller and Leopold von Kalckreuth.
In 1895, he traveled to Munich to further hone his talent and technique at the private painting school run by Professor Fehr and Ludwig Schmid-Reutte. Presumably during his time in Munich, he also learned photography and acquired a plate camera, which he used to photograph family members and his future wife, Mathilde Göller. The painting school was prestigious and therefore difficult to finance; without his family's support, it would not have been possible. Schindler knew that he couldn't prolong his studies too much and that he had to earn money. Therefore, in 1901, he left Munich and accepted a position as a candidate for teaching art at the Oberrealschule (high school) in Heidelberg.

In 1902, he moved to Mannheim, where he taught at the Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium (secondary school) until 1913. In 1903, he married Mathilde Göller (1878–1944), the daughter of the Malsch senior teacher Göller, whom he had known for a long time and who had previously appeared in some of his paintings. In 1906, their daughter Klara was born. She would remain their only child. In 1908, his mother died at the age of 68. The family lived in Mannheim until 1913.

In addition to his teaching work, he continued to devote himself to painting. His talent gained increasing recognition, and he was able to establish contacts with art associations and galleries. In 1910, the prestigious Paul Cassirer art gallery in Berlin exhibited some of his paintings. His works received considerable acclaim. They were generally seen as a continuation of the style of Wilhelm Trübner and Ferdinand Hodler. The Munich Secession exhibited one of his paintings, as did the Kunsthalle in Bremen and the Kunstverein Barmen.

In 1912, he was invited to participate in the highly acclaimed International Art Exhibition of the Sonderbund Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler (Special Association of West German Art Lovers and Artists) in Cologne. The Mannheimer Tagblatt newspaper called him "Mannheim's representative of modernism." He was now 42 years old and widely recognized as an expressive artist. His paintings sold well, and everyone seemed convinced that he had a brilliant career ahead of him. from genre painting, he increasingly turned to nudes and figure painting, but his passion lay in landscape painting, which, however, received less attention. Thus, it was primarily his figure paintings that were exhibited at the Kunsthalles.

In 1913, he was appointed to the Grand Ducal Saxon Art School in Weimar as Gari Melchers's representative. He hoped to succeed Professor Albin Egger-Lienz. In 1914, he was appointed professor. Unfortunately for him, the title only applied to Weimar. Then the First World War broke out. Schindler was forced to return to teaching in Mannheim. The war thwarted his further career.
After the war, he exhibited only at regional exhibitions in Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Karlsruhe. He created numerous landscape paintings of Mannheim and the Rhine. The director of the Mannheim Kunsthalle, Dr. Fritz Wichert, had supported him earlier, and his successor, Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, director from 1923, also held him in high esteem. His paintings were also shown at the Gebrüder Buck Gallery and Herbert Tannenbaum's "Kunsthaus" and sold well. Since the First World War, he had increasing health problems and frequently had to take sick leave. In 1924, at the age of 54, he was forced into early retirement.
In 1925, he left Mannheim, shortly before Hartlaub curated the highly acclaimed New Objectivity exhibition. His daughter Klara began studying at the Karlsruhe Art Academy under Professor Hubbuch. She later worked as an art teacher in Moosbach and at the Fichteschule in Karlsruhe.

Theodor Schindler increasingly visited his birthplace of Malsch. His deceased mother had left him some money and property. He finally decided to build a house on the land he inherited, the former Wässerwiesen (water meadows). In 1932, he commissioned the Karlsruhe architect Günthner. His knowledge of the Bauhaus concepts was incorporated into the planning. For example, there are large corner windows in every room. The rooms are grouped around a central staircase. However, he did not adopt the flat roof typical of the Bauhaus.

The art scene had changed significantly since the 1930s. The gallery owners, who were primarily Jewish, were displaced or emigrated. Schindler, who had always simply wanted to perfect his talent, suddenly found his art co-opted by politics. In 1933, after moving with his family to Malsch, Hans Adolf Bühler, the new director of the art school and Badische Kunsthalle (Baden Art Gallery), appointed by the National Socialists, organized an exhibition entitled "Government Art from 1918 to 1933." It was the first exhibition to focus on defaming and shaming the participating artists. Schindler was among those denounced in Karlsruhe. Schindler was horrified and avoided exhibiting or publicly selling his paintings until the end of the war. He survived the war by completing numerous commissioned paintings for Malsch residents.
In 1945, shortly before the end of the war, his wife Mathilde died at the age of 68. Three years earlier, his daughter Klara had married her fellow student Werner Koch. After Koch was drafted into military service, Klara lived with her father in Malsch. Their son Nikolaus (1943) was born there. After the end of World War II, Werner Koch returned early from captivity. from then on, the young family lived under the same roof as Theodor Schindler. Together with his son-in-law, he created numerous paintings of the Malsch area. In 1947, the Badischer Kunstverein dedicated a group exhibition to him.

Congratulatory articles appeared in newspapers in Mannheim and Karlsruhe on his 80th birthday.

Schindler died at home on June 26, 1950.

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