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Bauer (Farmer)

80 x 55 cm
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated, 1937

Hannes Fritz

Johannes Adam Fritz (1896-1981) was a German artist. Fritz worked as a bank clerk in Heidelberg until the age of 28 when he decided on a career as a painter. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and built up a reputation as a portrait painter. Also known as Fritz-München, for his habit of signing his work by pairing his name with the city of Munich, Fritz travelled extensively in Europe, South America, and North Africa. Fritz was on his way to India on his honeymoon with wife Editha Wölfl in 1932 when he met the Maharaja of Baroda aboard the ship. Having impressed the Maharajah with his artistic skills, Fritz soon became a court painter to several maharajahs in India. He visited India 5 times from 1932-1937 and painted more than 55 portraits of Indian royalty and senior British civil servants. He also took many photographs in India and made extensive films of his visits. A 2012 documentary 'Munich in India' was produced based on these archives. Fritz visited Ceylon in 1937.