Manfred Hirzel

 Manfred Hirzel, Portrait of Georg Goedecker, 1929

Little is known about Manfred Hirzel (1905-1932). He was originally from Lodz in Poland, but moved to Berlin when he was five years old. He attended school in Berlin and went on to work as an apprentice for a bookseller. 

 Manfred Hirzel, Melitta, 1930

 

He studied painting from 1925, after having met Willy Jaeckel and Ludwig Meidner. Frenz Lenk, another Neue Sachlichkeit painter, taught Hirzel the techniques of the Old Masters. In 1928 Hirzel exhibited for the first time at the Wasservogel Gallery, and in 1929 he produced the very "weimaresque" portrait of Georg Goedecker shown above. Hinzel died at the age of only 27.

Manfred Hirzel, Portrait of Rosi Mein, 1928