Günter Metken

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Günter Metken (* 1928 in Duisburg ; † March 29, 2000 in Tripoli / Libya ) was a German art historian , exhibition curator , essayist and travel writer .

Live and act

Günter Metken studied literature, art history, philosophy and languages ​​at the universities in Bonn , Saarbrücken and Munich . In 1954 he was at the University of Munich with a dissertation studies on language gesture in dramatic work of Gerhart Hauptmann Dr. phil. PhD. From 1955 Metken lived in Paris and reported from 1967 mainly for the Süddeutsche Zeitung . He has published articles on 19th century, modern and contemporary art, including the photographer Herbert List .

In 1975 Metken received the order from the Menil Foundation in Houston / Texas, together with his wife, folklorist and exhibition curator Sigrid Metken and Werner Spies , to compile a multi-volume catalog raisonné by Max Ernst . Metken's term for securing evidence for the works of the artists Christian Boltanski , Nikolaus Lang , Raffael Rheinsberg and Dorothee von Windheim established itself as a term for an art genre after he curated an exhibition with this title at the Kunstverein Hamburg in 1974 together with Uwe M. Schneede would have. In 1976 he wrote an anthology of surrealism with When the Surrealists were still right . In 1977 Metken was involved in the preparation of Documenta 6 , directed by Manfred Schneckenburger , in the Plastics / Environment working group. In 1981 he was responsible for the contribution 3 de Mayo , which appeared in the exhibition catalog Pablo Picasso - Works from the Marina Picasso Collection edited by Werner Spies . His travel diary Travel Considered Fine Art from 1984 achieved several editions. In 1987 he wrote a popular short guide to documenta 8 in Kassel. Metken was a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).

He contributed to the television series 1000 masterpieces - written contributions to paintings by Niklaus Manuel Deutsch , Hans Baldung Grien . These texts were printed in the books accompanying the series, are sporadically repeated on 3sat , ZDFkultur and Planet and are now available on DVD publications (see 1000 Masterworks # Literature ).

He was in a car accident on March 25, 2000 while he was staying with his wife in Libya . Günter Metken died of his injuries four days later in a hospital in Tripoli.

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gottfried Knapp: On the trail of the arts . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, No. 77 from 1./2. April 2000, p. 17.
  2. ^ Walter Vitt: Günter Metken died ( Memento from May 3, 2005 in the Internet Archive ): International Art Critics Association - German Section, April 10, 2000 (accessed on April 13, 2018)
personal data
SURNAME Metken, Günter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian and art critic
DATE OF BIRTH 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Duisburg
DATE OF DEATH March 29, 2000
Place of death Tripoli