Willhelm (Willi) Knapp

The Gallery seeks artwork by Willi Knapp. Contact: info@GalleryofWisconsinArt.com

Born 1901 in Hofeld, Saarland
Died 1972 in Wiesbaden, Germany

From Germany, Willi Knapp was born in St. Wendel about five miles from Saarbrucken. Wilhelm Knapp, known as Willi, became a sculptor, architectural decorator and painter in realist style.  Although his decorations were commercial appearing, his painting and sculpture leaned toward classical realism and avoided modernist or abstract styles.  

His father was a blacksmith, and Willi, as a young man, took jobs as a railroad mechanic before immigrating in 1924 at age 23 to America.  First he was in Chicago where he took evening classes at the Art Institute, and four years later, he moved to Milwaukee where he made money by doing architecture sculpture.  Among his projects was the lobby for the Wisconsin Gas Company Building at 626 East Wisconsin Avenue, and the second story of a building at the corners of Oakland Avenue and Capitol Drive.  

In Milwaukee, he was well liked, respected for his work, and was described as "a jovial, talkative man."  He met numerous architects including Frank Lloyd Wright and Alfred Clas, of whom he did a portrait bust that is in the Milwaukee Public Library art collection.  He also did a portrait bust of the German philosopher, Knapp first did painting as an avocation, but encouraged by Robert von Neumann, he pursued the activity more seriously beginning the early 1930s.  In 1932, he won a gold medal from the exhibition of the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors for the best painting entry that year. (1888-1976) Von Neumann was proud enough of Knapp that he did a watercolor painting, now in the Milwaukee Art Museum, of the presentation.

However, in 1934, Willi Knapp had returned to Germany, settling first in Saarbrucken where he designed exterior figures for the entrance to a newly built theater.  He married in 1940, and the couple had a son and daughter.  By the late 1940s, he had turned to watercolor painting with many of the subjects being the destruction caused by the war.  During World War II, he served in the German Army and was stationed in Greece, where in 1944, he did illustrations for a soldier's newspaper. Knapp was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to sculpt two monumental sculptures to flank the entrance of the new city theater being built in Saarbrucken. His German sympathy was widely publicized, making return to the US impossible. 

Knapp moved to Wiesbaden, married, and raised two children. He served in the German Army in World War II. In 1946, Knapp settled in Kohlbeck near Wiesbaden, and worked as a designer for light fixtures for public building projects and as a sculptor for public buildings.  Upon his return home, he worked mainly as a designer of lighting fixtures for large public building projects, and continued to do sculpture to the acclaim of an admiring audience.

Source:
Peter C. Merrill, German-American Artists in Early Milwaukee, pp. 49-50

Photo Courtesy Tillmann Knapp (son of Willi Knapp)

Wilhelm (Willi) Knapp Born 1901 in Hofeld, Saarland. Died 1972 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Described as a stormy petrel, Willi Knapp, sculptor, watercolorist, ceramicist, etcher, was not unfamiliar with controversy.

Born Wilhelm Knapp in Hofeld, Saarland, his first teacher was his father, an ornamental blacksmith. Willi, as he came to be known, received a common school education and studied mechanical engineering, philosophy and art history. As a young man, he worked as a mechanic in a railroad workshop, but he yearned to make his living entirely from art. Lacking his family's support for his career choice, Knapp emigrated to America at age 22 and settled in Chicago where he studied sculpture at the Art Institute until he had a falling out with his instructor and was denied further admission.

A contract for the metal work on the Schroeder Hotel brought him to Milwaukee in 1928. A jovial, talkative man, he came in contact with a number of local architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright. Knapp's architectural sculpture can still be seen in Milwaukee. For Willi, painting was an avocational sideline, until, with Robert von Neumann's encouragement, he began to exhibit his watercolors and in 1932 won a gold medal for best painting. A key member of Milwaukee's emerging regionalist artists, recognized as the younger and more radical art elements of the Badger city (Chicago Evening Post, 1931), Knapp was lauded as the only really original spirit in Milwaukee's art circles and condemned as a messer in oils. Between 1930 and 1933, the prolific Knapp won several prizes in Milwaukee for his work in painting, sculpture and applied art. But he did not make much money.

In 1933, Knapp decided to return to Germany to sell his paintings of the curious life in America. After selling all the rest of his work, Knapp left America with 50 canvases. He fully expected to return to America in 2-3 years. However, shortly after his return to Germany, demand for his sculpture grew rapidly. Knapp was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to sculpt two monumental sculptures to flank the entrance of the new city theater being built in Saarbrucken.

His German sympathy was widely publicized, making return to the US impossible. Knapp moved to Wiesbaden, married, and raised two children. He served in the German Army in World War II. Upon his return home, he worked mainly as a designer of lighting fixtures for large public building projects, and continued to do sculpture to the acclaim of an admiring audience.

Selected Exhibitions:

1933 - Willi Knapp, Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, WI Selected Group Exhibitions

1931- Eleven Milwaukee Artists, Studio Gallery, Chicago, IL 

1931-Twelve Milwaukee Artists, Cudahy Tower Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

1932 - Wisconsin Art, Increase Robinson Galleries, Chicago, IL 

1932 - Nineteenth Annual Painters and Sculptors Exhibition., Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, WI 

1932 - Watercolors & Drawings by 17 WI Artists, Layton Art Gallery, Milwaukee, WI

1933 - WI Painters & Sculptors and the Wisconsin Society of Applied Arts Annual Exh., Milwaukee Art Institute, Milwaukee, WI