Caspar Neher artworks

Caspar Neher (1897-1962), born Rudolf Ludwig Caspar Neher, was an Austrian-German artist, stage designer, and librettist. He was well known for his lifelong personal and professional relationship with German director Bertold Brecht. The pair met as school friends, remaining close throughout their studies and throughout Neher’s service during WWI. The two would go on to become committed socialists, producing leftist plays together throughout their career. They worked at the Kammerspiele in Munich starting in 1922. In 1923, Neher married Erika Tornquist and they would go on to have a son a year later. In 1924 Neher and Brecht moved to Berlin, where Neher worked at Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theater and the Krolloper. They also worked closely with composer Kurt Weill and the three would produce plays in collaboration, with Brecht writing, Weill composing, and Neher designing.

During this period, Neher was heavily influenced by Neue Sachlichkeit, or New Objectivity, a German art movement that was responding to the romanticism of expressionist art. This movement was interested in social issues and often adopted a satirical biting tone. Artworks were often gritty and offered unflinching portrayals of life in Germany in the post-WWI period.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Neher remained in the country and continued his theater design work under the Third Reich throughout the war. This is in contrast to many others working in avant-garde theater at the time who were forced to flee the country, including Brecht and Weill.

After the war, Neher reconnected with Brecht, who moved back to Germany, and the two continued their professional collaboration. In 1954, Neher was appointed as the technical director of the Munich Kammerspiele. From 1958 until his death, he was professor of stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.