Wolfgang Tritt - 1913-1983
The following is a memoriam found in the back of the 1985 “Historische Uniformen” calendar:
The graphic artist and painter Wolfgang Tritt, known far beyond Germany's borders, died in Berlin on January 18, 1983 at the age of seventy. The search for the beautiful runs like a red thread through his life, and this – his ideal – is also expressed in his creations.
After the war, he first depicted “old Berlin” in numerous colored watercolor prints, in ever new variants – a reminder of an intact and beautiful past! The publisher Korsch-Verlag, having taken notice of him, then commissioned Tritt to design calendars about the city and German landscapes.
Tritt then became interested in “Militaria”, a completely new field of work which was probably unique at the time (this field of study, also known as Uniformology, was pioneered in the late nineteenth century by another well-known German artist – Richard Knötel). Extensive studies in almost all military museums in Europe and the USA created the basis for his uniquely beautiful watercolors of uniforms, which, due to the accuracy of their depiction, initially in a series of postcards, and from 1967 onwards in the “Historische Uniformen” calendar series, created a historically sound image of the "colorful coat" of yesteryear.
He is captivating and always new in the design of his horses, which give his motifs a liveliness and expressiveness that is so characteristic of Tritt's “Militaria”.
Almost 240 of these magnificent uniform pictures bear witness to the extensive work of this virtuoso artist.