{{expand German|topic=bio|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Walter Ophey | image = WalterOphey2.jpg | alt = Walter Ophey | caption = Walter Ophey (1908) | birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|03|25|df=y}} | birth_place = Eupen, Belgium | death_date = {{Death date and age|1930|01|11|1882|03|25|df=y}} | death_place = Düsseldorf, Germany | education = Kunstakademie Düsseldorf | spouse = Bernhardine Bornemann }}

'''Walter Hugo Ophey''' (25 March 1882 – 11 January 1930) was a German painter and graphic designer, known for Rhenish Expressionism.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-05|title=So farbenfroh – und merkwürdig – malte Walter Ophey|url=https://www.br.de/nachrichten/kultur/so-farbenfroh-und-merkwuerdig-malte-walter-ophey,RgvcInh|access-date=2020-08-20|website=BR24|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Fricke|first=C.|date=January 9, 2013|title=Walter Ophey: "Es dümpelt so still vor sich hin"|trans-title="Walter Ophey: It's bobbing so quietly"|url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/arts_und_style/kunstmarkt/walter-ophey-es-duempelt-so-still-vor-sich-hin/7605394.html|access-date=2020-08-20|website=www.handelsblatt.com|language=de}}</ref> He was a member of the Sonderbund group and Young Rhineland art groups.

== Biography == Walter Hugo Ophey was born on 25 March 1882 in Eupen, Germany (now Belgium) to Louise Haeber and accountant Emil Ophey.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Walter Ophey, Artist (1882-1930)|url=http://www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/Persoenlichkeiten/walter-ophey/DE-2086/lido/5da04d78572885.08785773|access-date=2020-08-20|website=Portal Rheinische Geschichte (Portal Rhenish History)|language=de}}</ref> His father died in December 1888 and his mother returned to work, teaching music lessons.<ref name=":0" /> He studied with sculptor Karl Krauss (1859–1906) in 1900. He attended Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Art Academy) and studied under Fritz Roeber and Willy Spatz (1861–1931).<ref name=":0" />

In 1912, Ophey joined the Sonderbund group with other Düsseldorf painters, Julius Bretz, Max Clarenbach, August Deusser, Wilhelm Schmurr, and brothers Karli Sohn-Rethel, Otto Sohn-Rethel and Alfred Sohn-Rethel.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sonderbund westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler|publisher=Kunsthalle Düsseldorf|year=1911|trans-title=Sonderbund of West German Art Friends and Artists}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Selz|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Sy8MmOU3ZYC&pg=PA246|title=German Expressionist Painting|publisher=University of California Press|year=1957|location=Berkeley, California|pages=246|language=en|lccn=57-10501}}</ref>

On 12 February 1917, Walter Ophey married Bernhardine Bornemann (1879–1968).<ref name=":2" />

In 1919, he was a founding member of Young Rhineland (Das Junge Rheinland) art association, alongside Werner Heuser, Heinrich Nauen, Adolf Uzarski, Arthur Kaufmann, Carlo Mense, and architect Wilhelm Kreis.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ey|first=Johanna|date=2014|title=Mutter der rheinischen Avantgarde. Eine regionale Kunstgeschichte|url=http://www.rheinische-art.de/cms/topics/johanna-ey-mutter-der-rheinischen-avantgarde.-eine-regionale-kunstgeschichte.php|access-date=2020-08-19|website=www.rheinische-art.de|language=de}}</ref>

His work is in the public museum collection at Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf (City Museum State Capital Düsseldorf),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Art and Culture, Bernhardine Bornemann|url=http://emuseum.duesseldorf.de:8080/objects/266127/bernhardine-bornemann;jsessionid=D4F0E6D42681FF58E51483E7EFE3F616|access-date=2020-08-20|website=emuseum.duesseldorf.de|language=de}}</ref> Städel Museum,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collection: Park island in the pond|url=https://www.staedelmuseum.de/go/ds/16132z|website=Städel Museum, Frankfurt}}</ref> Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Walter Ophey|url=https://collections.lacma.org/node/152919|access-date=2020-08-22|website=LACMA Collections}}</ref> among others. In 1954, Museum Kunstpalast acquired the Ophey estate and now hold the largest collection of his work.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Walter Ophey at Museum Kunstpalast - Events|url=http://www.artnet.com/events/museums/walter-ophey-at-museum-kunstpalast/|access-date=2020-08-22|website=Artnet.com}}</ref>

The art exhibition "Walter Ophey, Show Your Colors!", was shown in 2018–2019 at Museum Kunstpalast, and 2019–2020 at Kulturspeicher Würzburg.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Zeitung|first=Süddeutsche|date=November 19, 2019|title=Leuchtendes Leben|trans-title=Shining Life|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/kunst-leuchtendes-leben-1.4687976|access-date=2020-08-22|website=Süddeutsche.de|language=de}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="4">

File:Aufgehender Mond (1905).jpg|'Rising Moon' (1905)

File:Walter Ophey Birken am Heiderand.jpg|alt="Birches on the Edge of the Heather" (c.1904/1905), oil on canvas|Ophey, "Birches on the Edge of the Heather" (c.1904/1905), oil on canvas

File:Dachauer Moos (1907).jpg|'Dachau Moor' (1907)

File:Im Hofgarten (1915).jpg|'In the Hof Garden' (1915)

</gallery>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Further reading == * {{Cite book|last=Kraus|first=Stefan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnZOAAAAYAAJ|title=Walter Ophey 1882-1930, Leben und Werk|publisher=Hatje Cantz|year=1993|isbn=978-3-7757-0403-8|trans-title=Walter Ophey 1882-1930, Life and Work}} * {{Cite book|title=Walter Ophey Das Gesamtwerk: Gemalde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik : Kunstmuseum Dusseldorf im Ehrendorf, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen|publisher=Wienand Verlag|year=1991|isbn=978-3879092741|location=Germany|trans-title=Walter Ophey The Complete Works: Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings, Prints: Art Museum Dusseldorf in Ehrendorf, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen}} * {{Cite book|title=Walter Ophey, Farbe Bekennen!: Katalog zur Ausstellung im Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf 2018 und Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg 2019|publisher=Wienand Verlag & Medien|year=2018|isbn=978-3868324471|location=Germany|trans-title=Walter Ophey, Show Your Colors!: Catalog for the exhibition at the Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf 2018 and the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg 2019}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Walter Ophey}} * [https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/park-paths-walter-ophey/vwFn-6wVEuAcEA?hl=en Walter Ophey] on Google Arts and Culture * Podcast in German: [https://www.br.de/mediathek/podcast/kulturwelt/kulturspeicher-wuerzburg-walter-ophey-farbe-bekennen/1773569 Kulturspeicher Würzburg: "Walter Ophey - Farbe Bekennen" (Kulturspeicher Würzburg: "Walter Ophey - Show Your Colors")](2019)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ophey, Walter}} Category:1882 births Category:1930 deaths Category:Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni Category:People from Düsseldorf Category:People from Eupen

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