Günter Grote

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Günter Willi Grote (born October 9, 1911 in Duisburg , † February 27, 1985 in Düsseldorf ) was a German visual artist and professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy .

Life

“Macrocosm” mosaic in the entrance hall of the Humboldt-Gymnasium Düsseldorf

Following his father's wishes, Grote first completed an apprenticeship as a businessman. Since 1933 he turned more and more to art. He was acquainted with the gallery owner Johanna Ey and represented a conception of art that differed from art under National Socialism . Along with Bruno Goller , Hans Kindermann , Ferdinand Macketanz , Jupp Rübsam , Ludwig Gabriel Schrieber and others, Grote belonged to a circle of Düsseldorf artists who met regularly between 1935 and 1942 in the Düsseldorf old town restaurant "Chronometer". He described the experiences in an autobiographical, posthumously published report. On May 27, 1938, he was arrested by the Gestapo in a wave of arrests . Until his entry into the military service in 1940 he worked as a bookseller.

View of St. Mary's Conception in Düsseldorf city center with concrete-glass windows from 1962/63

After the Second World War he was able to devote himself to art again. Grote created paintings, church windows, mosaics and plastic objects. Since the mid-1950s, it appeared through modern church windows, which he designed with the architect Josef Lehmbrock as integral components of concrete walls. With his friend, the architect Bernhard Pfau , at the end of the 1960s he developed abstract sculptural objects for the design of the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus , which refer to the context of Op Art . In 1960 he received the Cornelius Prize from the city of Düsseldorf. From 1960 to 1977 Grote taught painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. There he was one of the signatories of a manifesto dated November 12, 1968, in which ten professors from the academy objected to the activities of their colleague Joseph Beuys and declared that they had to withdraw their trust in him.

Works (selection)

Illuminated furniture ensemble made of polyester cast resin in the foyer of the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf (bottom left in the picture)
  • 1955: Mosaics “Macrocosm” and “Microcosm” for the entrance hall of the Humboldt Gymnasium in Düsseldorf
  • 1955/1956: Flame-shaped artificial gravel concrete stones (partly with integrated stones made of tinted "Brussels glass") for the Church of the Holy Cross in Düsseldorf-Rath
  • 1956–1960: Church window in the Church of St. Jakobus the Elder in Ratingen-Homberg
  • 1960: Church window with glass blocks for the St. Martinus church in Neuss-Uedesheim
  • 1962/1963: Concrete and glass windows for the Church of St. Mary's Conception in Düsseldorf city center
  • 1963: Concrete-glass rosette in the window of the entrance facade of the Church of St. Joseph in Essen-Krey-Leithe
  • 1964: Window cycle for the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption in Düsseldorf-Unterbach
  • 1967: Concrete block window wall for the Church of the Holy Cross in Leverkusen-Rheindorf
  • End of the 1960s: wall object made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester (9 by 3.65 meters), illuminated furniture ensemble made of polyester cast resin, "golden mosaic" and iron curtain for the Düsseldorf theater
  • “Peacock mosaic” in Bernhard Pfau's studio house , Stephanienstraße 26, Düsseldorf

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Grote: Chronometer . Edition Marzona, Düsseldorf 1987
  2. ^ Wolfgang Horn: Cultural Policy in Düsseldorf. Situation and new beginning after 1945 . Leske Verlag, Opladen 1981, ISBN 978-3-8100-0396-6 , p. 94 ( Google Books )
  3. ↑ Düsseldorf-Rath, Catholic Church Zum Heiligen Kreuz , website in the glasmalerei-ev.net portal , accessed on August 5, 2018
  4. ^ Church of the Holy Cross , website in the portal baukunst-nrw .de , accessed on August 5, 2018
  5. ↑ Ratingen-Homberg-Meiersberg, Catholic Church of St. Jacobus the Elder , website in the portal glasmalerei-ev.net , accessed on August 5, 2018
  6. ^ Neuss-Uedesheim, Kath. Kirche St. Martinus , website in the portal glasmalerei-ev.net , accessed on August 5, 2018
  7. ↑ Düsseldorf, Kath. Kirche St. Mariä Konstanz , website in the portal glasmalerei-ev.net , accessed on August 5, 2018
  8. ↑ Essen-Kray-Leithe, Kath. Kirche St. Joseph , website in the portal glasmalerei-ev.net , accessed on August 5, 2018
  9. ^ Düsseldorf-Unterbach, Catholic Church of St. Mariä Himmelfahrt , website in the portal glasmalerei-ev.net , accessed on August 5, 2018
  10. ↑ Schauspielhaus: Works of art by Prof. Günter Grote are being restored , website from July 13, 2018 in the duesseldorf.de portal , accessed on August 5, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Grote, Günter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grote, Günter Willi (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German visual artist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Duisburg
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1985
Place of death Dusseldorf