Life and Activity in Munich and Paris

After maintaining a studio in the Runtingerhaus in Regensburg between 1908 and 1911, Achmann moved toward the centers of the art world. He spent the years from 1912 to 1914 in Paris, seeking studies in the city. This period of travel preceded a significant moment in Munich in 1917, when he exhibited alongside George Grosz, Max Pechstein, and Erich Heckel. These exhibitions placed his work within a specific circle of contemporary German art.

The years following the first world war saw him engaging with the literary and visual currents of the time. From 1919 to 1921, he worked with the poet Georg Britting to publish the expressionist magazine Die Sichel. This collaboration focused on the intersection of graphic work and verse. His involvement in the publication coincided with a period of intense creative output, including works like Die Brennsuppenesser, which was painted in 1919 and features a sickle in the background as a nod to his editorial work.

Key Works and Output

Achmann’s hand moved between the heavy texture of oil and the sharp, decisive lines of the woodcut. Around 1919, his work took on a specific, personal weight. He produced a woodcut titled Self-portrait during this time, a piece that captures a moment of looking inward. In that same period, he turned to the same medium to create Flood, a woodcut that explores a different kind of force. His collaboration with Georg Britting also left a mark on his canvas; he painted Die Brennsuppenesser in 1919 as a tribute to their shared work on the expressionist magazine Die Sichel. The painting includes a sickle in the background, a quiet nod to that partnership.

As the years passed, his focus shifted toward the natural world. His output included various landscapes, such as a 1941 Landscape held in the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich. Other works from his later years include Schwaigerbichl and Winter Föhn, both from 1952. These pieces show a continued engagement with the light and form of the Bavarian surroundings. His graphic work also remains a significant part of his legacy, with his woodcuts being studied in collections like the Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies.

• Die Brennsuppenesser (1919)
• Self-portrait (circa 1919)
• Flood (circa 1919)
• Landscape (1941)
• Schwaigerbichl (1952)
• Winter Föhn (1952)

Later Years and Death

The years between 1933 and 1935 marked a final period of public visibility for Achmann, during which he participated in five exhibitions. This window of activity was short-lived. Following 1935, he faced an exhibition ban, and his paintings were removed from the walls of public galleries. The quiet that followed this period was marked by a shift in his surroundings.

From 1940 until the end of his life, Achmann lived in Schliersee. He remained in this location for nearly two decades, a long period of residence that saw him through the later stages of his life. He died in Schliersee on October 25, 1958.

Where to See the Works Today

His presence remains in several collections, often tied to the places where his life and practice took root. In Regensburg, the Städtische Galerie im Leeren Beutel maintains a permanent exhibition that includes his works. This gallery, housed in a historic granary, keeps his pieces alongside other artists from Eastern Bavaria. It is a quiet place to find his graphic works and paintings within the context of the local landscape.

In Munich, the Bavarian State Painting Collections hold several of his pieces. These works sit within the institutional memory of the city where he studied and exhibited. The presence of his paintings in these state collections speaks to the weight his output carries in the regional record.

Across the Atlantic, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art holds pieces from his earlier graphic period. You can find his woodcut Self-portrait from circa 1919 there, alongside the woodcut Flood, also from circa 1919. These works, held within the Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, allow for a closer look at the textures of his printmaking from that specific time in his life.