Christian Wilhelm Allers

Christian Wilhelm Allers born 6 August 1857 (d. 1915)

Christian Wilhelm Allers was a German painter and printmaker.

C W Allers, the son of a merchant, was born 1857 in Hamburg. He first worked as a lithographer, and in 1877 he moved to Karlsruhe where he continued to work as a lithographer.

In 1880/1881 he served in the German navy in Kiel where the German painter Anton Alexander von Werner supported him. In Kiel he got to know the poet Klaus Groth, who became a friend of his.

Allers became well-known when he published his collection of prints Club Eintracht in 1888. Several other books and maps (collections of prints) followed, e.g. about Bismarck, so at the beginning of the 1890s he was able to build a villa on Capri. He lived there for many years, also spending some time in Hamburg, Karlsruhe and travelling around the world.

His drawings are rich in detail and are of realistic style, so they often seem clinical. Although the drawings look realistic, Allers sometimes added persons to scenes who were never at that location. In this respect, he was not a realist. Technically, Allers often used pencil and drew scenes of everyday life, travelogue and portraits.

In autumn 1902, there was a scandal. Friedrich Alfred Krupp, a member of the famous industrial dynasty and another well-known German living in Capri, was accused by some italian newspapers of homosexuality and pederasty. It is uncertain how much truth there was in the accusations or if it was part of an extortion attempt by a journalist.

Some weeks later, Allers was accused, by court. (Krupp died some weeks later, possibly a suicide.) Allers managed to escape before the trial began, which led to a sentence of 4½ years imprisonment, pronounced in absentia. According to Tito Fiorani, 'Allers had distinctly homosexual tendencies, and liked to surround himself with boys, whom he often used as models.' [pictured: Junge]

Allers left Capri and began travelling around the world for more than 10 years, staying some time in New Zealand, Samoa, and Australia. During this time, he often used the pseudonym W. Andresen, and earned money by making portraits of wealthy people.

He died in 1915 in Karlsruhe some months after returning to Germany. [pictured: Ganymede]