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The original painting came to America after World War II, where it was later rediscovered. In [[2005]] it was sold at Sotheby's for 84000 pounds.
The original painting came to America after World War II, where it was later rediscovered. In [[2005]] it was sold at Sotheby's for 84000 pounds.


Tolkien purchased at least one other Madlener postcard published by Ackermann's: [http://www.akpool.de/ansichtskarten/205063-kuenstler-ak-madlener-j-heilige-familie-esel-wald|"Heilige Familie"] (Holy Family), which he sent to Katherine Kilbride on 24 December 1938.
Tolkien purchased at least one other Madlener postcard published by Ackermann's: [http://www.akpool.de/ansichtskarten/205063-kuenstler-ak-madlener-j-heilige-familie-esel-wald|"Heilige Familie"] (Holy Family), which he sent to [[Letter to Miss Kilbride|Katherine Kilbride on 24 December 1938]].


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 23:27, 28 May 2014

Der Berggeist by Josef Madlener

Josef Madlener (April 16, 1881December 27, 1967) was a German artist and poet.

Biography

Josef Madlener, born as a farmer's son in the Bavarian village Amending (today a district of Memmingen), attended a School of Art and Applied arts. Later he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.

His pictures oftenly show folksy or religious scenes. His style was impressionistic and in the same way symbolic, too. His works were published in several newspapers and magazines. He wrote some Christmas stories for children. Madlener's Christmas pictures were published in post card series, too.

Josef Madlener had one known daughter, named Julie Madlener (19101999)[1].

Origin of Gandalf

In 1935 the Bavarian fine art publisher F.A. Ackermann published a series of post cards under the title Sagen und Märchen (Legends and Fairy tales). The series contained six reproductions of folkloristic paintings:

  • Der Frühling (The Spring),
  • Die Bergfee (The Mountain-fairy),
  • Rübezahl,
  • Waldmärchen (Forest fairy tales),
  • Hubertushirsch (Saint Hubert's Hart)

and finally the reproduction of Der Berggeist (The Mountain-spirit), that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to create the character of Gandalf the wizard.

Humphrey Carpenter tells in his Biography of the author, that Tolkien keeped this post card safe and later wrote 'Origin of Gandalf' on the card's envelope.

Though Carpenter speculates, that Tolkien bought the post card already in his summer holidays 1911, when he was in Switzerland. This speculation is incorrect, because the post card version of Der Berggeist was published first in 1935. In an interview the daughter of the artist gives the painting's date of origin as the middle or end of the nineteen twenties.

The american magazine Mythlore published the article The Origin of Gandalf and Josef Madlener by Manfred Zimmermann in 1983.

The original painting came to America after World War II, where it was later rediscovered. In 2005 it was sold at Sotheby's for 84000 pounds.

Tolkien purchased at least one other Madlener postcard published by Ackermann's: "Heilige Familie" (Holy Family), which he sent to Katherine Kilbride on 24 December 1938.

External links

References