User:Rocketknight/Joseph Steib

Joseph Augustin Steib, (* 26th July 1898 in Mulhouse, Alsace, France; † 30. January 1966 in Brunstatt, France) was a French painter. He is best known for his collection of paintings named Salon des rêves.

Biography
Joseph Steib was born in 1898 in Mulhouse. He attended the art academy in Mulhouse from 1925 to 1926. Before WWII he worked on miniatures and church paintings. During the 1930s he regularily took part in the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris.

He worked for the city of Mulhouse (water supply department), he retired in 1943 because of an ongoing health issue (epilepsy).

A series of paintings with the title "Salon des rêves" is considered to be his main work. The paintings depict Nazi-Leaders or his native Alsace suppressed by Nazi-Germany, these paintings are rich in symbols and often surreal. Because any criticism of the political elite of Nazi-Germany was forbidden, he was painting in secret. Only after the war he showed his work to the public, but after the war the public had little interest in viewing pictures dealing with the Third Reich. His work fell into oblivion, Joseph Steib died in 1966. When his wife Rose died in 1981, the pictures were sold or given away. Eventually during the 1990s and early 2000s interest in his work revived. However the whereabouts of many of his paintings are still unknown.

Exhibitions

 * 1945 : "Salon des rêves" in Brunstatt
 * 1997 : "Joseph Steib", Sammlung Zander
 * 2006 : Le Salon des Rêves, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, (mit einem Text von Georges Sebbag, "Die magische Kunst von Joseph Steib")
 * 2012 : L’Art en guerre, France 1938–1947, im Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris
 * 2013 : "L’art en guerre. France, 1938–1947, From Picasso to Dubuffet", Guggenheim-Museum Bilbao
 * 2014 : The painting "Le Conquérant" (Hitler as Conquerer) is bought by Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris

Literature and documentaries

 * Dichter Claudia: Joseph Steib; Kunstkatalog aus der Edition Charlotte Zander, 1997; ISBN 3926318260
 * Petry Francois; Joseph Steib – Maler des ' Salon der Träume'; Verlag: Belleville; 1999; ISBN 3933510430
 * Guigon Emmanuel: Joseph Steib : Le salon des rêves; Herausgeber: Editions des Musées de Strasbourg; 2006; ISBN 9782351250334
 * Petry Francois, Hergott Fabrice: Joseph Steib "le salon des rêves "; Publisher: Place Victoires/NuéeBleue; 2015; ISBN 2809912823
 * Pesenti Marie, Gallwitz Klaus, Roob Alexander Hergott Fabrice: Hitler in hell: The work of the painter Joseph Steib; documentary in German; Arte, last accessed 21.05.2017

Links

 * Image Joseph Steib with tableau and brush
 * Photo from passport Passport image of Joseph Steib the site features further details of his work.
 * Late image Joseph Steib and pressumably his wife