Joseph Sünnen (known as Jos) was born as the eldest of four children into a family of winemakers in Bech-Kleinmacher, in the Moselle region of Luxembourg. In 1914/1915, he was sent to Maredsous Abbey in Belgium to begin agricultural studies with the aim of becoming a winemaker. However, during the restoration of the monastery, he discovered his interest in fresco techniques. In 1916, he enrolled at the School of Decorative Arts in Düsseldorf. He completed his training at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts from 1918 to 1926. 

In 1926, Sünnen settled in Düsseldorf as an independent artist before returning to Luxembourg. He married in 1929 and became the father of his daughter in 1938. The artist and his family stayed in Düsseldorf until the outbreak of the war, yet they frequently visited Sünnen’s homeland. During the war, he sustained a bullet wound and was treated at a US military hospital. In 1940, his studio in Düsseldorf was destroyed during bombing. He then returned to Bech-Kleinmacher in Luxembourg.

Sünnen worked in various artistic fields: oil painting, fresco, drawing, mosaic, and sculpture. He started his artistic training with fresco techniques. Then, he essentially evolved to oil paintings. His earlier works were inspired by Classicism, Romanticism, and Realism, but also showed Impressionist touches. His style then evolved and became more modern, with contrasting colours and a more intense play of light and shadow. The artist's subjects are tied to nature, the earth, the work of Moselle farmers, winemakers, and workers. Above all, he devoted himself to animal painting. Other themes tackled by the artist were open-air landscapes, often populated by animals (preferably cows and horses at work or resting, e.g. Der Rappen from 1926), still lifes, religious themes, and, to a lesser extent, portraits.

Sünnen exhibited in Luxembourg and abroad, including Germany, the United States, Norway, and Sweden. During his lifetime, two retrospective exhibitions took place at the Galerie d’art municipale d'Esch-sur-Alzette in 1960 and 1963. In 1969, after the artist's death, an exhibition was organised in his studio in Bech-Kleinmacher showing works he created in the past five years. In 1982, three retrospective exhibitions were organised, two in Bech-Kleinmacher (Sünnen Gallery and Possenhaus) and one at the City Hall in Differdange. In 1994, as part of the artist's 100^th birthday celebrations in Wellenstein, an exhibition entitled 100 Joer Jos Sünnen traced the artist's career. In 2019, the show Jos Sünnen – De Moler (1894-1969) was held at the ART-I-CHAUD studio in Bech-Kleinmacher to commemorate the artist's 125^th birthday.

From 1940 to 1943, he exhibited at the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung at Haus der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art) in Munich. The subtitle added to the 1943 exhibition was Moselländische Künstler im Kunsthaus Luxemburg. In 1959, Sünnen participated, alongside Claus Cito, in an exhibition at Casino in Mondorf-les-Bains. In 1989, a Nico Klopp/Jos Sünnen retrospective show was held at the Sünnen Gallery in Bech-Kleinmacher. In 2019, Sünnen's works were featured in two exhibitions: Les Sécessionnistes luxembourgeois at the National Museum of History and Art (MNHA) and 125 Joer: Nico Klopp a Jos Sünnen at the Old Communal House in Bech-Kleinmacher to commemorate the 125^th anniversary of the two artists Klopp and Sünnen.

Since his childhood, Sünnen had been in contact with various artists from his region. Indeed, he attended primary school with Nico Klopp. Klopp and Sünnen visited the studio of Nicolas Brucher, a well-known church painter in Elvingen at the time. At the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf, Sünnen studied under professors such as animal painter Julius Paul Junghans (1876-1958). In Düsseldorf, he also became friends with the Luxembourg sculptor Claus Cito and the German artist Carl Aller (1886-1932). In 1927, he exhibited alongside the following Luxembourg artists at the first Salon de la Sécession: Joseph Kutter, Jean Schaack, Harry Rabinger, Auguste Trémont, Jean-Pierre (Jemp) Michels, and Jean Joseph Thiry. In 1934, he worked with Richard Gasser from Düsseldorf to create a mosaic based on Sünnen's design for the Monument dedicated to Saint Donat, commissioned by Father Krier from Merkholtz. He became acquainted with the work of architect Charles Arendt, who designed the church in Bech-Kleinmacher. He also maintained a professional relationship with Gérard Thill, then director of the MNHA.

Sünnen was a highly prolific artist. Unfortunately, many of his pre-1940 paintings, which he created in Düsseldorf, were destroyed during the bombing of the city and much of his storage space in his hometown was damaged too. His work is featured in national collections, including that of the MNHA, as well as those of the municipalities of Differdange, Esch-sur-Alzette, and Remich.

Sünnen created several public monuments, including one for Saint Donat in Alscheid and one for Paul Eyschen near Stadtbredimus, both dating from 1934. In 1951, he created frescoes and mosaics for the Wellenstein Wineries.

From 1923 onward, Sünnen was a member of the CAL. In 1936, he worked with the Touring Club Luxembourg. In 1937, he collaborated with the parish of Bech-Kleinmacher to create the frescoes for the church.

Sünnen's only participation in the Salon de la Sécession was described as promising in an anonymous article in the newspaper Luxemburger Zeitung from 1927 ("Exposition Hotel de Ville de Luxembourg "). In 1943, critic Arno Kupferschmidt mentioned Sünnen's participation in the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung (Great German Art Exhibition) in Munich (Kupferschmidt). In 1959, author L. D. acknowledged the artist's extensive and thorough training in Düsseldorf, highlighting the painter's popularity beyond national borders. In 1960, author S. B. highlighted Sünnen's talent as an animal painter, a genre that the author claimed to be rare and underrepresented in Luxembourg. In 1982, the Sünnen Gallery opened in the artist's childhood home and a monograph about the artist was published as part of the series "Painters from the Moselle" (Publications mosellanes). Julien and Nina Lefèvre created a bronze medal with the artist's effigy in profile. In addition, journalist Evy Friedrich emphasised the modernity of Sünnen's use of form, yet describing his choice of subjects as traditional: While Sünnen, was not a modern painter in the true sense of the word, he never opposed the power of modern colours. He used them in his own way, evolving from dark colours, as seen in his early work, to a luminous palette (Friedrich 12). In 2004, art critic Georgette Bisdorff remarked that today, his paintings are of great documentary value, illustrating the work of farmers, winemakers, miners, and showing the shoreline as it was a few years before the canalisation of the Moselle river (41). In 1994, the publisher Martin Gerges highlighted the general talent of the “Moselle painters” and their importance to Luxembourg's heritage. He described Sünnen's work as classical Realism, despite the modern innovations of the secessionist artists with whom he exhibited (Gerges 66).

As far as Luxembourg's art history is concerned, Sünnen, alongside his friend Klopp, was one of the first artists who dared to get artistic training with the intention of becoming an independent artist. His participation in the Luxembourg Secession shows his commitment to the artistic life of his time. Today, he is recognised primarily as a painter of the Moselle region and a renowned animal painter.

Woks cited

Bisdorff, Georgette. "La Collection Luxembourgeoise du Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art : Jos Sünnnen." Ons Stad 75 (2004): 41. Print.

Friedrich, Evy. "Joseph Sunnen (1894-1969)." D’Lëtzebuerger Land 29.10.1982: 12. Print.

Gerges, Martin. "Die Maler der Mosel. " Les Cahiers Luxembourgeois 4 (1994): 66. Print.

Kupferschmidt, A. Title unknown. Moselland 1 (1943): page unknown. Print.

L.D. "Ausstellung von Skulpturen und Gemälden in Bad-Mondorf. " Tageblatt 18.06.1959: page unknown. Print.

S.B. "Jos. Sünnen stellt in Esch aus." Tageblatt 25.04.1960: page unknown.

"Exposition Hotel de Ville de Luxembourg.“ Luxemburger Zeitung 22.05.1927: page unknown.