Willy Stöwer

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German painter (1864–1931)

title: "Willy Stöwer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["19th-century-german-painters", "19th-century-german-male-artists", "german-male-painters", "20th-century-german-painters", "20th-century-german-male-artists", "german-marine-artists", "german-illustrators", "1864-births", "1931-deaths", "people-from-wolgast"] description: "German painter (1864–1931)" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Stöwer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German painter (1864–1931) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox artist"]

FieldValue
nameWilly Stöwer
imageWilly Stöwer.png
honorific_prefixProfessor
captionStöwer in 1913
birth_nameWilhelm Christian Friedrich Stöwer
birth_date22 May 1864
birth_placeWolgast, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia
death_date
death_placeBerlin-Tegel, Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, Germany
nationalityGerman
spouse
known_forNaval art, Imperial German period
Commercial art
trainingself-taught
notable_worksDer Untergang der „Titanic‟
patronsKaiser Wilhelm II
module{{Infobox person
childyes
signatureWilly Stower signature.jpg
::

| name = Willy Stöwer | image = Willy Stöwer.png | image_size = | honorific_prefix = Professor | alt = | caption = Stöwer in 1913 | birth_name = Wilhelm Christian Friedrich Stöwer | birth_date = 22 May 1864 | birth_place = Wolgast, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia | death_date = | death_place = Berlin-Tegel, Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, Germany | nationality = German | spouse = | known_for = Naval art, Imperial German period Commercial art | training = self-taught | movement = | notable_works = Der Untergang der „Titanic‟ | patrons = Kaiser Wilhelm II | awards = | elected = | website = | module = {{Infobox person | child = yes | signature = Willy Stower signature.jpg

Willy Stöwer (22 May 1864 – 31 May 1931) was a German artist, illustrator, and author during the Imperial Period. He is best known for nautical paintings and lithographs. Many of his works depict historical maritime events such as the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

Life

Willy Stöwer, the son of a sea captain, was born in Wolgast, Germany on the Baltic coast. He originally trained as a metalworker and worked as a technician in the engineering offices of various German shipyards. He soon received commissions as a draftsman, illustrator and painter. His talent was recognized early and his painting technique was self-taught. In 1892 he married Henrietta Dettmann from a wealthy family, allowing him to devote himself exclusively to his work as an artist.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Villa_Stoewer_2013_South-eastern_view.jpg" caption="name="villa"}} in [[Tegel]], 2013"] ::

Kaiser Wilhelm II became an enthusiastic supporter and patron of the artist and Stöwer was said to be the Kaiser's favorite naval painter. Stöwer even accompanied the Emperor on several voyages between 1905 and 1912. He was a board member of the German Navy League () and was awarded an honorary professorship in 1907. The course of his life followed that of his patron and the fate of the Imperial German Navy. As with contemporaries such as Hans Bohrdt, his most significant creative period concluded with the abdication of the Kaiser and the end of the Imperial era. His later career, being without Imperial favor, relied on a few commissions from steamship lines. He died in relative obscurity at his Berlin-Tegel villa on 31 May 1931, nine days after his 67th birthday.

Career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Stöwer_Titanic.jpg" caption="''Der Untergang der "Titanic"''
Illustration for "''[[Die Gartenlaube]]''", 1912"] ::

Stöwer was a very prolific artist between 1892 and 1929, creating approximately 900 black-and-white and 335 color illustrations for 57 books, as well as posters, postcards, trading-cards, labels, brochures and calendars. An early example of his Commercial art is a series of trading cards from 1899 to 1900 which he made for the German chocolate producer Stollwerck entitled The New German Warships in Scrapbook No. 3, Series 132. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Willy_Stöwer_(BerlLeben_1903-06).jpg" caption="Stöwer in his studio, 1903"] ::

Stöwer's representation of the sinking of the in the magazine Die Gartenlaube earned him a special popularity. He created the illustration shortly after the disaster in 1912 without detailed information; in particular, the fourth funnel did not eject black smoke as it was only for ventilation. However, the image became iconic despite minor errors and has been reprinted numerous times even to the present day. Stöwer, not known for portraiture, also painted a portrait of the Kaiser in a naval uniform, which along with some of his naval paintings, hang in the Kaiser's Room at Achilleion, the Kaiser's summer palace from 1907 to 1914 (currently a museum) on the Island of Corfu.

Other examples of Stöwer's work currently in museums include oil on canvas: Sinking of the Italian destroyer "Turbine" by Austrian destroyers on 24 May 1915. at the Military History Museum, Vienna, and: Speedboat ahead! at International Maritime Museum of Hamburg. In 1917, postcards were produced from some of his paintings for charitable aid to benefit wounded U-boat crew members and families of the deceased during World War I.

Gallery

File:Willy Stöwer Yacht Hohenzollern.jpg| Painting (ca. 1888) SMY Hohenzollern I File:Die Gartenlaube (1893) b 197.jpg|Magazine illustration for Die Gartenlaube (1893) "The walk to the Easter Water" File:Hansa ships of the XIVth and XVth centuries shipno4.png|Book illustration (1902) "Lübeck ship" From Hanseatic League Ships of the 14th and 15th Centuries File:Parseval-Broschuere-E1.png|Brochure illustration (1910) For Luftfahrzeug-GmbH "The military airship 'P II' reports by radio the approach of a Wright Flyer." File:Dampfer Cap Trafalgar 1899.jpg | Poster (ca. 1913) Cap Trafalgar of the Hamburg-South America Line File:German submarine U-9, on return Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Artwork by Willy Stower, 1914 (30175417300).jpg |The return of U-9 to Wilhelmshaven, Germany (1914) File:Willy Stöwer - Sinking of the Linda Blanche out of Liverpool.jpg |Attack of U-21 on the Linda Blanche (1915) File:Stöwer U-Boot Truppentransporter.jpg|Postcard (1917) "Sinking of a hostile armed troop carrier by German submarine in the Mediterranean Sea". File:Willy_Stöwer_-_Winterlager_der_Segler_in_Wolgast..jpg | Painting (1923) (tempera on cardboard) "Winter Camp of the Sailors in Wolgast"

Published works

In addition to his works in the visual arts, he wrote, published or edited several German books, and is credited as co-author on many more. Books by Willy Stöwer include:

  • 1929 : To Sea with Brush and Palette.{{efn|Willy Stöwer (1929), Zur see mit Pinsel und Palette , Braunschweig [etc.]: G. Westermann, OCLC 4360549}} Includes reminiscences of the author's voyages with Kaiser Wilhelm II.{{Citation |publisher = G. Westermann |location = Braunschweig [etc.] |title = Zur see mit Pinsel und Palette |author = Willy Stöwer |date = 1929 |isbn = 9780521875769 |oclc = 4360549 |ol = 6741731M
  • 1916 : German U-boat Actions, in Words and Pictures. Published collection of reproductions of paintings of submarines; text in German on pages facing illustrations.
  • 1912 : Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Navy. Conceived in honor of 25th anniversary of the Kaiser's rule.
  • 1905 : The German Sailing Sport. (Editor) Stöwer's comprehensive compendium of the German sailing sport from the early heyday of yachting in the German Empire.
  • 1901 : Marine ABC. Children's alphabet book
  • 1900 : German Fleet Maneuvers: After Watercolors and Studies.
  • 1898 : Germany's Navy: With use of Official Materials for Original Watercolors.

Biography (monograph) by Jörg M. Hormann: Marine Painter of the Empire, Willy Stöwer{{Citation |publisher = Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft |isbn = 3782208226 |ol = 3630423M |location = Hamburg |title = Marinemaler der Kaiserzeit, Willy Stöwer |author = Jörg M. Hormann |date = 2001

Notes

References

References

  1. (2007). "Stöwer, Willy". Oxford University Press.
  2. "Willy Stower". AskART.
  3. Hormann, Jörg-Michael. (2001). "Willy Stöwer. Marinemaler der Kaiserzeit. Leben und Werk.". Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft.
  4. Rüger, Jan. (2007). "The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire". Cambridge University Press.
  5. "Liste, Karte, Datenbank / Landesdenkmalamt Berlin".
  6. "Wurzburg, Bayern: Hauptfriedhof".
  7. Petrulis, Alan. "Willy Stower 1864-1931". Metropolitan Postcard Club.
  8. Image from German Wikimedia Commons: [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/5/57/Sammelbilder_Stollwerck_Nr_3_1900_St%C3%B6wer.jpg (1900) Sammelalbum Nr. 3, Gruppe Nr. 132; Gebr. Stollwerck Stammhaus: Köln am Rhein.]
  9. Μena, Μary. "KAISER'S ROOM".
  10. Greek National Tourist Organisation information window at the Achilleion Grounds [[commons:File:Adhilleion History.JPG. (image on Wikimedia Commons)]]
  11. "Achilleion (description)".
  12. ''Seegefecht. Versenkung des italienischen Zerstörers "Turbine" durch österreichische Zerstörer am 24. Mai 1915.'' Öl auf Leinwand, 50×75 cm.
  13. "Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Wien.".
  14. ''Schnellboot vor!'' (1913); [http://www.immhh.de/ Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg]
  15. (20 March 2015). "Osterwasser- The Legend of Easter Water".
  16. Stöwer, Prof. Willy. (1916). "Deutsche U-Boot-Taten, in Bild und Wort.". F. Bruckmann / Reichsmarinestiftung.
  17. "Prints & Photographs Online Catalog / Record". [[Library of Congress]].
  18. "6 IMPERIAL GERMAN NAVY KRIEGSMARINE BOOKS w/ STÃ-WER". WorthPoint.
  19. (18 May 2021). "Digital Library: Der deutsche Segelsport". Hathi Trust.
  20. "Kurzbeschreibung". amazon.de.

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19th-century-german-painters19th-century-german-male-artistsgerman-male-painters20th-century-german-painters20th-century-german-male-artistsgerman-marine-artistsgerman-illustrators1864-births1931-deathspeople-from-wolgast