Arthur Fitger was one of the ten children of
Delmenhorst (
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg) postmaster
Ratsherr Peter Diedrich Fitger (born 29 February 1804, died 14 November 1865). Ratsherr was a
hereditary title granted to his grandfather Heinrich Fitger and lineal male descendants (Fitger; see
Salic law) since battlefield action in the
Seven Years' War. Peter's wife was Clara Maria Caroline Plate (born 29 May 1815, died 18 November 1891), whose mother, Caroline (Arthur's grandmother), was raised the daughter of a
Holstein Countess Reventlow on the Noer estate and married Court Counsellor Franz Plate in 1800 in
Eutin. At the time of her marriage to Arthur's father, Clara Maria Caroline was widowed (Dony) with two daughters. Arthur Fitger grew up in the grand ducal
Posthaus in Delmenhorst which was also an inn which functioned as stopover for change of horses (postillions) and postal/customs exchange between Oldenburg and Bremen (part of the
Thurn und Taxis network of the
Holy Roman Empire). His younger brother Emil Fitger (born 15 December 1848 in Delmenhorst, died 9 April 1917 in Bremen) was editor in chief of the
Weser-Zeitung in Bremen for many years. Arthur Fitger attended the Volks- und Rektorschule in Delmenhorst and then the
gymnasium in
Oldenburg, where he lived at the home of Baurat
Otto Lasius (1797–1888).
Painting In 1858, Fitger went to the
Akademie zu München, where he studied under
Moritz von Schwind (1804–1875),
Peter von Cornelius (1783–1867) and
Bonaventura Genelli (1798–1868). He went to
Antwerp in 1861 and then to
Paris. From 1863 to 1865, he stayed in
Rome, supported by a scholarship from Oldenburg's grand duke. Then he spent the following years alternately in
Vienna und
Berlin before moving to Bremen in 1869. Fitger became known for his large decorative works, executed chiefly at Bremen. He decorated the Rembertikirche with two pictures: "The lost son" and "The Merciful Samaritan." He did a frieze for the bourse with maritime allegories. His works also appeared in the
Haus Seefahrt and the Reichspostgebäude. Influenced by the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he produced the portable artwork "Barbarossa's Awakening," which spread his reputation further. In 1875, he was given the task of decorating
the Ratskeller with murals. From 1883 to 1884 he painted large murals in the
Kunsthalle Hamburg. After this he returned to Bremen where he painted murals of nymphs and centaurs in
Imperial Hall of the new
Imperial Post Office Building. Originally painting in the style of Cornelius and Genelli, he later used colour in a more modern manner, similar to
Hans Makart (1840–1884). Arthur Fitger was awarded a gold medal for his "Icarus" painting when exhibited at the 1892-1893 Chicago World's Fair (Columbian Exhibition)
Writing Fitger was also well known for his writing. His plays,
Adalbert von Bremen (Oldenburg 1873; 2nd edition with the sequel
Hie Reich! Hie Rom! ["Here Empire! Here Rome!"], 1875),
Die Hexe ("The witch," Oldenburg, 1878; 4th edition, 1885),
Von Gottes Gnaden ("From the grace of God," 2nd edition, Oldenburg, 1884) have often been performed. He also wrote
Albrecht Dürer,
Johann Kepler and
Michelangelo and the epic poem
Roland und die Rose (1871) for the Bremer Künstlerverein. Fitger's most important written works are the poetry collections
Fahrendes Volk ("Traveling people," 2nd edition, Oldenburg, 1883) und
Winternächte ("Winter nights," Oldenburg, 1880). He also rendered into German (1886)
Lord Byron's
Marino Faliero, and for the
Denkmale der Geschichte und Kunst Bremens ("Memorials of the history and art of Bremen," 1877) prepared a history of the local cathedral.
Art criticism Fitger was regarded as an important person in art in Bremen around 1900. His art criticisms, published in the press, had a lasting influence on Hanseatic taste in art. He was chairman of the Kunstverein, and kept a conservative outlook on art. He strongly criticised artists who followed fashions that were modern at that time, including the
Künstlerkolonie Worpswede and the contemporary French painters. The most striking example of his criticism was a comment on an attempt by
Marie Bock and
Paula Becker to exhibit in the
Kunsthalle Bremen at the end of 1899. It appeared in the Weser-Zeitung, which was edited by his brother, Emil, at the time: which means: However, his criticism was unable to prevent a breakthrough of the Künstlerkolonie Worpswede. ==See also==