Early Life, Family and Artistic Training

Bernhard Dörries enters the scene in Hanover, Germany, born on May 26, 1898. He grows up within a family of intellectual rigor; his father, Bernhard Dörries, is a Protestant theologian, and his older brother, Hermann Dörries, pursues a career as a church historian. The environment is one of structured thought and academic tradition.

The trajectory of his life shifts in 1917. He begins his studies at the Technical University of Hanover, focusing on architecture. The lines of his future, however, are redrawn through a chance encounter. Meeting Kurt Schwitters changes everything. The influence of this meeting pulls him away from the rigid structures of architecture and toward the fluid possibilities of the canvas. He turns his attention to painting, seeking a different kind of construction.

This new direction leads him to the Art Academy in Berlin. Here, the formal training of a painter takes hold. He moves from the technical precision of architectural drafting toward the expressive demands of fine art, establishing the foundation for his dual identity as both a painter and an art writer.

Artistic Activity in the Early Twentieth Century

The post-war years bring a shift toward institutional engagement. In 1919, Dörries joins the Hanover Secession, marking his presence within the regional avant-garde. His focus expands through travel; study visits take him across the borders of Italy, Spain, and France, as well as to Greece. By 1924, his influence moves from the canvas to the administrative sphere when he joins the executive board of the Kunstverein Hannover.

The political landscape shifts abruptly in 1933. On May 1, Dörries joins the NSDAP. This period marks a peak in his formal recognition and institutional standing. At the 1937 Paris World Exhibition, he wins a Grand Prix for a portrait of a girl. Following the death of Georg Schrimpf in 1938, he is appointed to a professorship at the Art Academy in Berlin, a position he maintains until the end of World War II. Between 1937 and 1944, his work is featured in seven different German art exhibitions held in Munich.

Technique, Style and Subject Matter

Dörries works across multiple disciplines, moving between painting, lithography, and art criticism. His early output shows a sharp turn toward the aesthetics of Neue Sachlichkeit. A 1922 breakfast still life captures this shift, utilizing a starkness and precision that defines the movement. He moves from these early explorations into a more controlled, repetitive study of form in his later years.

In his late period, the artist adopts a limited canon of objects. He focuses on a specific, recurring arrangement: a plate, a cup, a knife, bread, an egg, and a water glass. These items are not merely depicted; they are subjected to constant reconfiguration. He uses these objects to explore the secret correspondences between things, testing how their relationships change when placed in new constellations. The compositions often utilize a high-angle perspective, such as in his work Der Tisch, to emphasize the spatial tension between these everyday items.

• South French Landscape

Later Years and Death

The post-war period finds Dörries in Langenholtensen, near Northeim, where he remains until 1949. By that year, he moves to Hanover. His professional life continues through the mid-century, marked by a return to academia. From 1955 until 1967, he holds a professorship at the Berlin University of the Arts.

In his final decade, he maintains his connection to the professional art community. He becomes a member of the German Federation of Artists in 1973. His life ends in Bielefeld on July 15, 1978.