The other day, while viewing the tape Maxpara, I stumbled upon almost a year ago post “the defence Ministry launches virtual exhibition “Frontline illustration” http://maxpark.com/community/5234/content/3410097#comment_45074262 .
The idea struck me as absolutely sound. Look at the events of the war through the prism of officialdom, as seen through the eyes of its participants, in whose hands was paper, pencil or paint – it’s great!
“But the psychological effect from this exhibition you can improve.” I thought. “Why don’t we post in the exhibition and pictures of German soldiers? Not posters and pictures not coming down from the pages of the Volkischer Beobachter, namely original works of the participants of those events. So to speak, view of the war from the front lines.”
No sooner said than done. Typing in a search engine browser, the phrase “German drawings since WW2”, I immediately met with a selection of excellent professional pictures with scenes of WW2 period 1940-44, But who is the author? I had to dig further.
In the end, to a small English site, All World Wars, I found information about the author of these paintings. It was the Austrian artist Hans Liska (1907-1984) is one of the most famous illustrators of the Second world countries of the Axis, who served in the Wehrmacht during the war.
Since the childhood dreamed to draw, instead, he was forced to finish school and go to work as a clerk, while laboring in tanzschule playing the piano. One day during a big concert Lisca is distinguished by the fact that he knew almost all folk tunes. After this incident, he began to invite more and more to pay, so he was able to enroll into the Vienna art school, after which he worked as a draftsman advertising postcards and posters.
In 1930 began working in the newspaper. Since 1939, served in a company of propaganda and published in the magazine “Signal”. After the war he collaborated with the concern Daimler-Benz and, in the end, it became the main Illustrator of promotional materials. Survived until 1984.
In his works, Liska convincingly demonstrates that such real war drama, with all its suffering, pain, despair, hard work, endurance, sense of duty and the courage of all participants regardless of whether under the banner of what colors they fought.
Below I offer participants Maxpara a selection of paintings by this artist:
1. German paratrooper
2.
Reconnaissance aircraft of the Luftwaffe in the battle on the Western front 1939-40 gg:
3. German infantry in the attack:
4. The return to the airfield lined fighter
5. Went prospecting…
6. “Pieces” over Athens
7. In the skies over France…
8. Russia. June 1941…
9. Auf Moskau…
9. Stalingrad.
10. At Sevastopol
11. German artillery…
12. Hard landing
13. Arrows…
14. Stalingrad, there…