* 23 October 1898 in Berlin; † 5 September 1982 in Schwaz (Tyrol)
 
German painter
 
Together with Max Beckmann, Otto Dix and George Grosz, Werner Scholz belongs to the second generation of German expressionism.

Following his studies at the Berlin College of Visual Arts, and his military service in World War One, Scholz in 1920 moves into a studio in his native city. His special area of interest are the artists of the ‘Brücke’, as well as Emil Nolde.The artist’s first solo exhibition is in Berlin, in 1925. In the time between 1930 and 1936 there follow several solo presentations, i.a. in Antwerp, the art gallery in Mannheim, the Bauhaus Dessau and the Märkische Museum Witten, as well as a joint exhibition with Käthe Kollwitz in Bielefeld. In 1930, the Nationalgalerie Berlin and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne purchase works by the artist. At an early time already, Scholz, in his works, responds to the National Socialism’s menace to civilisation. As a member of the German Artists’ Union, the artist exhibits his paintings, up to a last annual exhibition of the German Artists’ Union in Hamburg (1936) that was forcibly closed by the National Socialists. In connection with the Nazi propaganda show ‘Degenerate Art’, where at least two of Scholz’s paintings are displayed, the artist is banned from taking part in exhibitions. In 1939 he moves to Alpbach in Tyrol. An air strike on Berlin in 1944 destroys almost all of his paintings. After World War Two, Scholz’s colour range brightens more and more, and he creates expressive landscape paintings. From 1946 on already, works by the artist are shown in the exhibitions of many German cities. From 1957 on, following frequent travels in South Tyrol and Northern Italy, large-scale landscape paintings are created. Works by Werner Scholz are shown in private and public collections, e.g. at the Hermitage in St. Peterburg, the Lehmbruck-Museum Duisburg, and the Hamburg art gallery.