GRAMATTÉ, Walter

Walter Gramatté was a German Expressionist painter and printmaker known for working in the style magic realism. He worked in Berlin, Hamburg, Hiddensee and Barcelona. HIs art was inspired by his experiences in the First World War and his chronic illness. He enlisted to serve in WWI at the beginning of the war, but his poor health kept him from active duty. His attended the Kunstgewerbeschule (Arts and Crafts school) in Berlin and opened his own studio in 1917.

He married the Russian pianist and composer Sonia (Sophie) Friedman in 1920 and became associated with Die Brücke, a group of like-minded Expressionist artists. Despite his frail health, he travelled to France, Italy and Spain. He died on February 9, 1929 of intestinal tuberculosis. His grave monument was designed by his friend and fellow German Expressionist artist, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.

Walter Gramatté’s artworks were classified as "Degenerate" by the Nazi government in 1933 and forbidden from being exhibited until after the war.

The Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation was founded in Winnipeg in 1982 by Ferdinand Eckhardt, former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and second husband of Sonia, to honour the work of Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté and Walter Gramatté.