Franz Karl Wilhelm Domscheit

Place: Cropiens

Born: 1880

Death: 1965

Biography:

Pranas Domšaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian painter born on August 15, 1880, in Cropiens, East Prussia. He spent his first 27 years as a farmer before enrolling at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Königsberg under the sponsorship of Max Liebermann. After graduating in 1910, he traveled to various European capitals and was influenced by Edvard Munch. Domšaitis befriended Fritz Ascher from Berlin and had his portrait drawn in 1919/20. He spent World War I partially on his parents' farm and in military service before resuming his artistic career. His successful exhibitions were followed by his inclusion in a 1937 exhibition of Degenerate art, leading to the removal of his works from German museums. In 1938, he began signing his pictures using the Lithuanian version of his name after taking Lithuanian citizenship in 1920. During World War II, he painted 'harmless' still lifes. In 1949, his wife Adelheid Armhold received a position as a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where Domšaitis spent the rest of his life. His youthful style was described as romantic realism or spiritual impressionism, while his later work combined elements from Chagall, Rouault, and expressionists. He frequently depicted landscapes, village life, and Christian narratives like the Annunciation, Crucifixion, and Flight into Egypt.