Biography

German painter, graphic artist and handicraft designer. He studied at the Academy in Düsseldorf from 1882 to 1886, and subsequently, until 1889, at the Weimar School of Art under Leopold Kalckreuth (1855-1928), whom he followed to Munich in 1890. There he joined the Bohemian set around Lovis Corinth. At an exhibition by the Munich Secession, he was profoundly impressed by the mysticism of Jan Toorop and Fernand Khnopff. Although his own painting was strongly influenced by Dutch Symbolism, he published parodies of Symbolist Art in the magazines Jugend, Fliegende Blätter and Pan.

In 1894, he became a member of the Münchner Freie Vereinigung (Munich Free Association), a splinter group of the Munich Secession. Around 1900, in the studio founded with Adalbert Niemeyer (1867-1932), he turned increasing attention to applied art, designing fabrics, menus, wallpapers, and tapestries. He is also well known for his gold medal jewellery, occasionally set with stones.

Strathmann renounced traditional illusionistic techniques and emphasized the decorative character of his compositions. He thereby achieved the "fairytale atmosphere" so beloved of Munich Secession.