Gerhard Preuss (graphic artist)

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Gerhard Preuss (1997)

Gerhard Preuss (born January 25, 1935 Warsow , Randow district ; † March 18, 2014 in Treuenbrietzen ) was a German graphic artist, graphic designer and university lecturer.

With more than 60 children's, youth and school books as well as fiction, the design of postage stamps and playing cards he illustrated, he became well known in the GDR in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, but also in other European countries. His extraordinarily versatile work, which he created alongside his work at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art, is largely unknown - approx. 1700 free works: painting , drawings, graphics , calligraphy , drafts for architecture and furniture construction, spatial geometry , abstract reproduction graphics and sketches for physics .

Life

Gerhard Preuss spent his childhood in Stettin with his parents, his older brother and two younger sisters. His father - a professional driver - became a soldier at the start of the war and has been missing on the Eastern Front without news since January 1945. In autumn 1943 the family was evacuated to Eggesin . During a visit to Szczecin in 1944, Gerhard Preuss saw how his grandparents lost their apartment to fire bombs. After the Red Army had moved into Demmin , the family returned to Stettin on foot, where they found their former home destroyed. The mother left Stettin alone with her four children in 1946 and came to Lutherstadt Wittenberg . There, Gerhard Preuss's life was marked by unsatisfactory living conditions and poverty. From 1952 he lived in Potsdam during his military service and studies - including Am Alten Markt No. 3. From 1965 he lived in Berlin-Pankow at Binzstraße 5 until his death .

Gerhard Preuss found his final resting place in Geltow near Potsdam.

job

After Gerhard Preuss had already drawn a lot in his childhood, he completed an apprenticeship as a commercial artist at Niethardt-Werbung in Wittenberg from 1949 to 1952 . He also attended adult education courses in figure drawing and life drawing.

From 1952 to 1957 Gerhard Preuss served in the barracked People's Police (later NVA ) and was commissioned as a non-commissioned officer in Potsdam-Eiche to draw and edit maps.

From 1957 to 1962 he studied graphics at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art with Werner Klemke , Ernst Jazdzewski , Klaus Wittkugel , Arno Mohr and Ernst Rudolf Vogenauer . He graduated as a graphic designer in 1962. His diploma thesis, the illustrations for Paul Kanut Schäfer's “ Journey of discovery with the Beagle”, children's book publisher Berlin 1963, was named “ Most Beautiful Book of the Year” in 1963.

From 1962 to 1967 Gerhard Preuss worked as an assistant at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art before he was appointed lecturer in the basic course for natural drawing in 1973. 1970 to 1974 he worked in the section management of the commercial graphics district of Berlin of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR.

plant

In the 60s, 70s and 80s Gerhard Preuß illustrated and designed over 60 books for children and young people, school books and fiction. In addition, he created over 2200 illustrations, vignettes, book covers and bindings. He developed his own stamping technique, for which he used miniature stamps he carved himself (size between 1 mm and 22 mm).

In addition to and after his work as a lecturer at the Berlin Art School, he also designed postage stamps, playing cards, posters and drafts for the design of monuments. In addition to commissioned works, Gerhard Preuß created around 1700 free works: drawings, watercolors with abstract floral motifs, large-format graphic works, but also non-representational ink paintings. He experimented with various printing techniques as well as with the duplication of spiral patterns and stereometric patterns. He constructed with rulers and curve templates he had invented himself, drew architectural and furniture designs, wrote socially critical texts in the form of calligraphic sheets and artistically dealt with physical phenomena and spatial geometry . An unmistakable handwriting was his everyday trademark in notes, letters, ideas for picture titles and mental sketches.

  • Cover cover Before a child is born Heinrich Brückner, Der Kinderbuchverlag Berlin, 1966

  • Title Cover The fire animal Gerda Rottschalk, the children's book publisher Berlin, 1972

  • Expanding rotation, drawing Fineliner, 2002

  • Unnamed abstract pen drawing, undated

  • Nationalism blows up nature (detail), gouache, 1999

Selection of illustrated books

  • Popular science stories by Gerda Rottschalk (* 1920; † 2001) Das Feuertier , Die Wildpferdjäger , Die Kinder Sumut , Der Tempelschreiber , Kinderbuchverlag Berlin 1970–1972.
  • Paul Kanut Schäfer : Discovery trip with the Beagle. Children's book publisher Berlin 1963, award as “ Most Beautiful Book of the Year” 1963
  • Wassily Nareshny: The Russian Gil Blas. Rütten and Loening, Berlin 1972.
  • Heinrich Brückner : Before a child is born. Children's book publisher Berlin 1966.
  • Lev Kassil : What is happiness? Children's book publisher Berlin 1964.
  • Wolfgang Fritsche, Klaus Nitzsche: Fighters against death and the devil. Children's book publisher Berlin 1965.
  • Peter Klemm : Ideas, Inventors and Patents. Children's book publisher Berlin 1965 (Prize of the Ministry of Culture of the GDR 1966).
  • Jacob van Lennep : The Lord in Crimson. Rütten & Loening Berlin 1965.
  • Alexander Dumas " The Three Musketeers ", Rütten & Loening Berlin 1965.
  • Alexander Dumas : The Count of Monte Christo . Rütten & Loening Berlin 1965.
  • Charles Sorel : True and Funny History of the Life of Francion. Rütten & Loening Berlin 1967, “ Most Beautiful Book of the Year” 1967, licensed edition by Verlag H. Scheffler, Frankfurt am Main 1968.
  • 3rd grade reader. Volk und Wissen publishing house, Berlin 1970.
  • Future in view. Urania-Verlag, Leipzig-Jena-Berlin 1979, " Most beautiful book of the year" 1979
  • We learn math. Textbook for schools for the deaf. Volk und Wissen Volkseigener Verlag, Berlin 1975, “ Most beautiful book of the year” 1975
  • Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy : The orange tree and the bee. Rütten & Loening. Berlin 1984,

Exhibitions

  • from 1972/73 at art exhibitions of the GDR in Dresden
  • Book art exhibition Berlin
  • Book art exhibition Leipzig
  • Biennial of Children's Book Illustration Bratislava
  • Retrospective 2015 in the cultural center Ratzfatz Berlin-Schöneweide

literature

  • André Barz: Fictional children's literature from the GDR that provides knowledge of history: Gerda Rottschalk's children's books about primitive society. In: Sebastian Schmideler (ed.): Knowledge transfer in children's and youth literature in the GDR. V&R unipress 2017.
  • Anne Preuß: Comments on the contribution of the graphic artist Gerhard Preuß to children's and youth literature in the GDR. In: Sebastian Schmideler (ed.): Knowledge transfer in children's and youth literature in the GDR. V&R unipress 2017.
  • The most beautiful books of the German Democratic Republic of 1972 ff. , VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1973 ff.

Memberships

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e Anne Preuß: Comments on the contribution of the graphic artist Gerhard Preuß to children's and youth literature in the GDR . In: Sebastian Schmideler (ed.): Knowledge transfer in children's and youth literature in the GDR . 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht unipress, Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-8471-0678-4 , p. 433 ff .
  2. ^ Heide Hackenberg: Alliance of German Designer Handbook 1997 . Ed .: Alliance of German Designers. Editor, Braunschweig 1997, ISBN 3-925812-02-4 , p. 262, title / cover by Gerhard Preuss .
  3. ↑ Harry Fauth: The Most Beautiful Books of the GDR 1972 . Ed .: Exchange Association of German Booksellers in Leipzig. VEB Fachbuchverlag, Leipzig 1973, p. 15 .
personal data
SURNAME Preuss, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic artist, graphic designer and university lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsow , Randow district
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 2014
Place of death Treuenbrietzen