Paul Nietsche facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Nietsche
Born	17 June 1885 Kiev, Ukraine
Died	4 October 1950 (aged 65) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Resting place	Belfast City Cemetery
Education	Imperial Academy of Fine Art, Odessa
Alma mater	Academy of Arts, Berlin
Known for	Portraits & still-life

Paul Nietsche (born June 17, 1885 – died October 4, 1950) was a talented artist and teacher from Ukraine. He moved to Ulster in 1936. There, he became a very important person in the art and writing world of Belfast. He was active from the 1930s until he passed away in 1950.

Paul Nietsche's Early Life

Paul Felix Franz Nietsche was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on June 17, 1885. His parents were German. When he was six, his family moved to Odessa. His father started a printing business there. Paul's mother always encouraged his artistic skills from a young age. It's said that she once pawned his brother's coat just to buy paints for Paul!

Paul studied art at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Odessa. His teachers included Gennadiy Ladyzhensky and Kiriak Kostandi. In 1908, he went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. Later, Paul moved to Paris. There, he became friends with the famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. He even showed his art at the Salon in 1912. Paul went back to Odessa in 1914. He stayed there until World War I ended. Then, he moved to Berlin to be with his family. In August 1919, Paul showed his art at the Der Sturm Gallery. He exhibited alongside artists like Maria Uhden and Paul Busch.

Nietsche's Artistic Journey

While living in Berlin, Paul Nietsche became friends with Michael O'Brien. Michael was a student from Dublin who later taught English at the University of Leipzig. In 1926, Michael O'Brien moved to Queen's University Belfast. He became a teacher of Celtic Studies there. He invited Paul to visit Belfast. That same year, Paul showed five of his paintings with the Ulster Arts Club in Belfast.

Between 1926 and 1934, Paul traveled a lot around Europe. He earned money by selling his paintings and holding exhibitions. He painted in many places, including Dubrovnik in 1928, and Avignon, Castlewellan, and Switzerland in 1931. He also painted in Cornwall and Berlin in 1933. The next year, he went back to Cornwall and the South of France. During these years, he often returned to Ulster. He stayed with the O'Briens in Belfast and with fellow artist Herbert E Broderick in Castlewellan.

In 1929, Paul had an art show at Michael O'Brien's home in Belfast. He showed his art only once at the Royal Hibernian Academy, which was in 1930. In 1934, the year he moved to Northern Ireland, Paul had an exhibition at the Brook Street Art Galleries in London. He also had a solo show at Dublin's United Arts Club in June of that year. The London show featured 28 paintings, mostly of scenes from Cornwall. Two years later, he had another show at the Magee Gallery in Belfast.

In 1936, Paul Nietsche traveled widely in the United States and Canada. After that, he worked in Devon and Cornwall before going to Belfast. His art was shown for the first time in Canada in 1936. This was at the Continental Galleries of Fine Art in Montreal. The show had 28 artworks. These included landscapes, still-life paintings, flowers, and some self-portraits. Some of the landscapes showed local places like Georgeville and Lake Memphremagog. In 1938, Paul showed his work with John Hunter and George MacCann at Belfast's Magee Gallery. He had another solo show at the same place in 1939. In 1938, Paul applied to become a British citizen. He was living at 9 Finaghy Park Central in south Belfast at the time.

During World War II, Paul Nietsche was held on the Isle of Man. He was with "chess-playing intellectuals" there. After the war, he returned to the Belfast art scene. He opened an art studio in an attic at 76 Dublin Road in the city. He worked there from 1942 until he died. In 1943, Paul showed his art alongside Stanley Prosser, Seamus Stoupe, and Newton Penprase. This was at the annual Ulster Arts Club exhibition in the Belfast Municipal Gallery.

In 1945, an art collector named Zoltan Lewinter-Frankl opened an exhibition of Paul's flower paintings. This show was at Tyrone House on Belfast's Ormeau Avenue. The Council For the Encouragement of Music and Art helped arrange the exhibition. Thirty artworks were borrowed from local art supporters. In 1946, the Council for the Encouragement of Music and Art bought a painting by Paul Nietsche. They also bought works by other artists from Ulster. Twenty-four of these works, including Paul's painting, were shown at their Donegall Place gallery in 1954.

Paul Nietsche showed his art at the CEMA Gallery in Belfast in 1947, 1948, and 1949. The 1949 show had 21 paintings. It was opened by his good friend, Barbara Hunter, a writer from Lisburn. She and H E Broderick had written a foreword for the 1947 exhibition. The 1949 exhibition included portraits of stage actors Robert H McCandless and James G Devlin. The catalogue for the show had a foreword by FL Green, who wrote Odd Man Out.

Paul was also a writer of poetry and short stories. He could speak Russian, French, German, and English very well. In 1948, he wrote a play that made fun of how local people viewed modern art. In 1949, he contributed a poem called A Vision to a short-lived poetry magazine from Ulster called Rann. This magazine was started by his old friend Barbara Hunter and Roy McFadden the year before. Paul also taught art to students. These included Jean Osborne and Markey Robinson. He helped Markey Robinson a lot, teaching him art techniques. He also introduced Robinson to the important art collector Zoltan Lewinter-Frankl.

The actor Jack Loudan talked about Paul's kind nature in 1972. Paul would fix broken dolls, cars, and trucks. Then, he would give them to children who didn't have much in Castlewellan, County Down. People often talked about Paul's unique personality. Jack Loudan even mentioned how visitors to Paul's Dublin Road studio were surprised. Paul would feed and entertain a mouse that lived there! Paul's portrait of Jack Loudan can be seen in the National Museums of Northern Ireland. His home and studio were always open to artists and actors from Belfast. Paul would offer them coffee and conversation while he continued to work. He would wake up late in the day and work late into the night. Often, he would go to bed just before the sun rose. He spent some time in Belfast City Hospital in June 1948. Later, he rested at the Crawfordsburn Inn as a guest of a friend. He never fully got better from this illness and was unwell until he passed away.

Paul Nietsche's Death and Legacy

Paul Nietsche passed away in Belfast City Hospital on October 4, 1950. He had fallen ill in his studio four days earlier. He was getting his work ready for exhibitions in London and Dublin. He was not married and did not have any children. Paul was survived by his three brothers.

A short funeral service was held at All Souls Church on Elmwood Avenue. After that, he was buried at Belfast City Cemetery. Many people came to mourn him. These included Zoltan and Anny Frankl, Jack Loudan from CEMA, Professor J L Montrose from Queen's University, and Joseph Tomelty and R H McCandless from the Group Theatre. Among the artists present were William Conor, William R Gordon, Fred Hull, Herbert E Broderick, John Lyness, and William Minshull.

Paul's friends organized a special exhibition of his artworks in his memory. This was held at the Ulster Farmers' Union Hall in Belfast in 1952. Paul's brother Eugene visited Belfast for the first time for this exhibition. Jack Loudan opened the show. He said he hoped to see Paul Nietsche's art have its own section in the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery one day. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland held another exhibition of his work in 1984. This was at the Arts Council Gallery in Belfast.

You can see Paul Nietsche's artworks in many public and private collections. These include the Ulster Museum, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland.