Edouard Hirth (1885–1980)

Edouard Hirth, also spelled Eduard, was born on September 14, 1885 in Richwiller, Departement Haut-Rhin, which was mostly annexed by the German Empire in 1871 and reverted to France in 1919. His personal development was heavily influenced by German culture: his schooling was in German, he spoke and thought in German.

In 1901, at the age of 16, he enrolled at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, which the Mayor of Strasbourg, Otto Back, had just set up. Four years later, he left Strasbourg for Munich where, like most Alsatian artists of his generation, he attended the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts until 1909. From 1909 to 1911, he travelled to Belgium, Holland and Germany. According to Walgenwitz, Hirth was commissioned by the Strasbourg publisher Singer to illustrate a single volume of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. That very year also turned out to be a decisive one for Edouard Hirth: He was offered a teaching position at the new School of Arts and Applied Arts in Bückeburg. His stay in this town in Lower Saxony, capital of the small principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, was to be a prosperous and serene period in his life. He was comfortably paid as a civil servant, a studio was made available to him free of charge and it was in Bückeburg that he met Ellen-Elisa Rowell, a young English tutor whom he married in August 1914.

Unfortunately, the war was to upset this beautiful order. Edouard Hirth was drafted and garrisoned in Poland from December 1915 to autumn 1918. Fate took its toll on his family. His brother died on the Russian front in 1917, and his sister succumbed to Spanish flu in 1918. In 1919, he was more directly affected by the death of the child his wife had just given birth to. That same year, the economic situation into which the war had plunged Germany led to the closure of the school in Bückeburg. Thus, Hirth was forced to return to Alsace.

In 1920, he found himself in Strasbourg. With peace restored to Europe, he was able to resume his travels, which combined pleasure with study. In the company of his wife, he visited England. However, the couple's situation was not easy. They lived at the Hôtel du Cercle Evangélique, 7, rue Finkmatt in Strasbourg. Ellen gave English lessons, while Edouard gave private drawing lessons. They then had the opportunity to take over Martin Hubrecht's flat and studio at 16 rue des Veaux. From 1922 to 1924 Hirth was appointed drawing teacher at the Episcopal College in St Etienne. In 1924, he joined the Groupe de Mai. This group, founded in 1919, was to play an important role in the artistic life of Alsace.

In 1940, when he was fifty-five years old, he suffered from the devastating interlude of World War II. It would also be traumatic for him: his wife was seriously wounded and disabled for the rest of her life following a bombing raid on Strasbourg in 1944. From 1945 to 1955, he taught at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg. After that date, he led a discreet life: he hardly ever left his flat at 16 rue des Veaux, where he continued to paint to the limits of his powers, which had been considerably reduced by an irreparable visual impairment. He died on 24 March 1980 in the Niederbourg retirement home in Illkirch, where he had been admitted the previous year.

Source:

Walgenwitz, François. "Edouard Hirth (1885–1980) Musicien de la couleur." Alsace-Collections. Web. October 25, 2024. https://alsace-collections.fr/Monographie%20Edouard%20Hirth.html .