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| Claus Bergen 1885-1964 |
German illustrator, marine and landscape painter, who recorded German navy
actions in the two World Wars. The son of the artist Fritz Bergen, he trained at the
Royal Academy in Munich under Karl von Marr. He began his career as illustrator
of Karl May’s Winnetou and travel stories and in 1910 his illustrations were
exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Brussels. He travelled extensively to
Norway, England, the Mediterranean and America, exhibiting and furthering his
training. Appointed Marine Painter to Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1914, he made numerous
dramatic paintings of U-boats and their crews. ‘The Liner Columbus at New York’
(National Maritime Museum, London) is a work painted in the United States in
1924, while ‘The Admiral von Scheer Bombarding the Spanish Coast’ (1937, Navy
Memorial Museum, Washington) records German action in the Spanish Civil War.
As a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) he worked
mostly on large-scale official commissions which ceased with the war. Throughout
his career he also painted smaller pictures showing sailing boats, fishing villages,
harbour and coastal views, including those of Polperro in Cornwall. In 1963 he
presented the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, with ‘The Atlantic’
and the British Admiralty with the painting of Nelson’s flagship Victory.
actions in the two World Wars. The son of the artist Fritz Bergen, he trained at the
Royal Academy in Munich under Karl von Marr. He began his career as illustrator
of Karl May’s Winnetou and travel stories and in 1910 his illustrations were
exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Brussels. He travelled extensively to
Norway, England, the Mediterranean and America, exhibiting and furthering his
training. Appointed Marine Painter to Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1914, he made numerous
dramatic paintings of U-boats and their crews. ‘The Liner Columbus at New York’
(National Maritime Museum, London) is a work painted in the United States in
1924, while ‘The Admiral von Scheer Bombarding the Spanish Coast’ (1937, Navy
Memorial Museum, Washington) records German action in the Spanish Civil War.
As a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) he worked
mostly on large-scale official commissions which ceased with the war. Throughout
his career he also painted smaller pictures showing sailing boats, fishing villages,
harbour and coastal views, including those of Polperro in Cornwall. In 1963 he
presented the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, with ‘The Atlantic’
and the British Admiralty with the painting of Nelson’s flagship Victory.
| Beschiessung der Westerplatte 1940 |
| Im Atlantik 1942 |
| Von Feindfahrt Zurück 1942 |
| Im Kampfgeliet das Atlantik 1941 |
| Der Bismarck 1941 |