Artist's Biography:

David Schneuer, Painter and graphic artist. born 1905, Poland. Immigrated to Eretz Israel 1933.
Died 1988, Tel Aviv.
David Schneuer was born in Przemyśl, Poland in 1905 and grew up in Berlin, Germany.
Between 1927 and 1932 he was active in Munich as a poster painter for the Kammerspiele in Schauspiellaus.
In 1930 he began to design stage sets for the Theater. He was later arrested in 1933 and interned at Dachau. Upon his release, Schneuer departed for Prague and then to The Land of Israel.
Arriving in Tel Aviv, Schneuer worked as a graphic designer in various advertising agencies.
He began to collaborate with the architect Heinz Chaim Fenchel (1906-1988) in 1937, designing structures such as the "Pilz Cafe" in Tel Aviv, and the Dan Hotels in Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Haifa.
Among his most famous works is his design for the logo of "Blueband" Margarine and for "Textile Shampoo" (1939).
Additionally, he participated in the advertising campaigns for "Sintabon" Soap (1958) and "Neka 7" (1964).
Schneuer also produced many drawings and paintings, and had a number of solo exhibitions.

Studies
Munich, Paris.

Stage designer for German theatrical companies.

Designed trademarks for Neka, Keshet, etc.

David Schneuer was born at the start of the 20th Century and died near its end, a man who experienced first-hand some of the defining historic and cultural moments of the era – from the decadent cafe society of 1920s Berlin to the hell of the concentration camps to the birth of Israel. Looking at the paintings on display at his newest Catto show, and it's possible to trace a line from Toulouse-Lautrec via Schiele and the German Expressionists to even some of the Pop Art of the 70s. Here is work that celebrates the urban and the decadent – and does so in a style that blends art-school finesse with techniques borrowed from commercial illustration.

Schneuer was born in 1905 in Przemisl, a village in Poland, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The family moved to America when Schneuer was a child, or meant to. They never got there, deciding instead to settle in Munich. A fateful decision. As a young man, Schneuer became part of the proto-Zionist movement gathering momentum among young Jewish activists in Europe. In fact, he was sent to East Prussia to learn about farming and subsistence as if in preparation for the establishment of a new country in the Holy Lands.

However, for Schneuer the real value of this graft at the time was the discipline it would instill in him, and the effect this would have on his burgeoning artistic talent. “Farming was actually my first preparation for craftsmanship,” he said.

On his return, Schneuer spent six months with a sign painter in Berlin before gaining a place at the Kunstgewerbeschule (school of arts and crafts). 
He continued to support himself by designing posters and was soon persuaded by fellow students to go to Paris, spending six months in the city of Toulouse-Lautrec, and soaking up the influence of the giant of poster art (not a literal giant, the Frenchman was five feet tall). In this Catto show some of the place names in the pieces – Montmartre, Place Pigalle – reflect the enduring influence of this period.

In the 1920s Schneuer worked as a stage and poster designer in Berlin and Munich, developing a style influenced by the Die Brücke school. This was nearly 20 years after these artists – Kirchner, Schmidt-Rottluff, Nolde, Grosz, Beckmann and others – had evangelised the non-naturalistic depiction of often decadent scenes and indeed there are strong echoes of Kirchner in particular in some of the works.

During this time, Schneuer also met and befriended some of the towering artistic influences of the era: Thomas Mann, Bertold Brecht, Kurt Weill. Clearly, Schneuer was lucky to be living through such a fertile time for an artist of his type – namely one interested in capturing the vivacity of life and the sensuality of people.

Unfortunately, darker forces were to overshadow this rich cultural scene, and in 1932 Schneuer was sent to Dachau. He was released a year later, and escaped to Tel Aviv, in what was then Palestine. By now, his expressionist style was fixed and in full flower, and Schneuer's paintings, posters and public murals were received with great enthusiasm in the expanding city. He lived there until his death in 1988.

Schneuer is now properly recognised as an important artist whose work reflects some of the key innovations of the 20th century – flattened perspective, a debt to commercial design, a hedonistic subject matter. He's a significant figure.

Additional Information:

David Schneuer's fine art is a unique witness to Europe between the World Wars and the golden period of German Expressionism.

He was born in 1905 in Austro-Hungary and raised mostly by his mother due to the effects of World War I and losing his father to the war. After graduating from the Munchner Kunstgewerbeschule, he moved to Paris, where he collaborated with many leading artists

By his early childhood his family decided to move to Berlin. On their way however, after a delay in Hamburg, the Schneuer’s settled permanently in Munich. A Jewish boy in a Catholic school, Schneuer eventually joined a Zionist group that encouraged him to go to Prussia to learn more practical things such as forming. Upon his return to Munich, with a more developed sense of a craftsman work, Schneuer began painting signboards for Jewish shops. After a six month stay in Berlin working as a sign painter, Schneuer returned to Munich and enrolled in the Berufsschule, where he was taught more about composition and design. Back in Munich he met Tim Gidal, a photographer, who persuaded Schneuer to go to Paris. In Montparnasse for a year and a half, Schneuer roamed the streets, returning to his room on the sixth floor to draw inspired not necessarily by what he saw, but by his imagination. His reliance on his imagination over the external world stayed with Schneuer throughout his artistic life. Internal, but not socially unaware, Schneuer’s work expresses an intuitive creativity without being nostalgic.

When he returned from Paris in 1927, Schneuer began painting posters for the theatre. He worked with one of the most renowned German set designers, Otto Reigbert through whom his artistic sensibility matured. While most artists for the theatre painted in either a constructivist typography or a more flowerly Art-Deco inspired manner, Schneuer’s posters formally reveal a unique balance between spontaneous design and more geometric lettering. His expression seems one based on improvisation, one that successfully conveys a concern for his production deadline, and more importantly, the viewer. Living in Germany, Schneuer was not oblivious to other artists working at the time. While many of the experienced poster designers created lithographs, Schneuer was one of the first Munich artists to create linocuts. He was drawn to the Expressionist artists of the “Neue Sachlichkeit” group, including Grosz, Dix and Schrimpf. Schneuer’s stylized, yet elegant and dynamic figures, in their unspecific environments, help blur the boundaries between illustration, advertising, and drawing-all while cautiously inserting a sense of eroticism.

Schneuer worked for the theatres until 1932, when their influence began to dissolve. After a visit to Tel Aviv, Schneuer returned to Munich where he was soon arrested under the fabricated accusations of an artistic dissident and deported to Dachau. Two months later, he was released and after a short stay in Prague, he moved to Tel Aviv permanently. Taken by the newness of the city (only 25 years old at the time of his first visit), Schneuer was perhaps inspired most by the eclectic atmosphere, one which allowed Schneuer’s imagination to express creatively his interpretation of it. He continued to paint for public spaces to support himself, all the while painting from his internal memory and his imagination. His elegant figures arranged in a seemingly blank setting, are at once active and passive, anonymous and identifiable, strong and delicate, and engaging yet calm. These qualities define the uniqueness of David Scheuner’s work, and it’s timelessness as well. Upon his release in 1933, he emigrated to Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. His paintings, as well as his trademarks, posters and public murals, were received with great enthusiasm in the rapidly expanding city.

The same motifs which he used while designing for Brecht, are to be found in his paintings – subtle eroticism, sensuous characters and exuberant humor enhanced by refined colors. Unaffected by the ever-changing world about him, Schneuer continued to develop his expressionist style until his death in November 1988.

In the 1920's he worked as a stage and poster designer in Berlin and Munich, developing his own style influenced by the German art of Kirchner, Grosz and Beckmann. It was during this time that he perfected his lithographic poster techniques. In 1932 he was arrested as an artistic dissident and was imprisoned in Dachau. Upon his release in 1933, he immigrated to Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. There his paintings, as well as his trademarks - posters and public murals - were received with great enthusiasm in the rapidly expanding city. Once in Tel Aviv, Israel, Schneuer did wall-decorations for hotels, cafes and bars. Included in his long list of credits was Hotel Dan Carmel in Haifa, a hotel in Abidjan in 1962 and the Zim company's ships built in Antwerp in 1964. David Schneuer always felt his 'art' was his personal statement while his 'craft' was a collaboration between craftsman and client.

The same motifs, which he used while designing for Brecht, can be seen in his paintings - subtle eroticism, sensuous characters, and exuberant humor enhanced by refined colors. Thomas Mann and the plight of the common man influenced Schneuer while in Germany. Ultimately, from the late 1960's onward, his work seemed to deal less with reality than with its reflection. The figures seemed to arise from La Boheme, Baudelaire, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cheret and Mucha. His work was a Munich version of early Twentieth Century Paris, fashioned in Tel Aviv at the later part of the century. His memories of people, places, and relationships past were recessed deep into his subconscious.

Unaffected by the ever-changing world about him, Schneuer continued to develop his expressionist style until his death in November of 1988.

Payment Methods: PayPal, Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard), Bank Cheque. If you wish to send a personal cheque, please note that the item will not be shipped until the cheque clears.

Shipping&Handling: All items are sent through registered mail or by E.M.S. Fast delivery service (up to 4-5 business days), depends on the weight and measures of the purchased item. You may add insurance for the item with an additional fee. Please e-mail us for other shipping methods.

In case that the frame includes a glass, the item will be shipped without the glass in order to prevent any damage to the artwork caused by broken glass: be aware that such kind of a damage is not covered by the insurance!

Terms of Auction: All sales are final, please only bid if you intend to pay. Refunds will be accepted only if the item is not as described in the auction. ISRAELI BUYERS MUST ADD 17% V.A.T. TO THE FINAL PRICE.

Artshik provides full assurance that all items sold are exactly as described! We guarantee all items we sell are 100% authentic!