Waldemar Eckertz

Waldemar Eckertz was born on 1 July 1878 (other sources say: 1881) in Elberfeld (Germany). After completing his secondary education, Eckertz attended drama school - where he most likely also studied music - and initially pursued a career as an actor, performing with a traveling theater company. In addition to his career as a stage artist, Waldemar Eckertz also worked as an editor for the Bergisch-Märkische Zeitung in Elberfeld before moving to Düsseldorf in 1906. There, he continued to pursue both career paths; notably, his stage performances took on a more musical character. By 1908, Waldemar Eckertz was the pianist for the Düsseldorf Vocal Quartet and performed throughout the region. In 1913, he relocated to Berlin, a move that took his professional career in an entirely different direction.
Evidently, Waldemar Eckertz began to focus more intensely on painting during this time, and from 1916 onward, he studied under Lyonel Feininger. Through Feininger, he became associated with the German Expressionist movement and joined the Novembergruppe (November Group), one of the most influential artists' associations of the Weimar Republic. Eckertz exhibited his works at the renowned Der Sturm exhibitions organized by Herwarth Walden. His creative output extended well beyond painting; he published poems and linocuts, designed books, and wrote poetry, theatrical plays, and music criticism.
During his years in Berlin, Eckertz cultivated friendships with many of the most significant artists and intellectuals of his generation. Among those with whom he maintained personal connections were Lyonel Feininger, Else Lasker-Schüler, Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Kokoschka, Walter Gropius, Herwarth Walden, and Friedrich Kayssler.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, the artists of the Novembergruppe and their works were denounced as "Bolshevist" and banned. It is not known how Waldemar Eckertz supported himself financially in the years that followed, nor what his activities were after the Nazis effectively banned him from working. However, it appears that during the war years from 1941 onward, he increasingly dedicated himself to music and began to compose. Over the following years, he produced dozens of compositions, primarily lieder (art songs) and chamber music.
Waldemar Eckertz died on 14 October 1947 in Berlin (Germany).

self-portrait 1927