Gustav Kurt Beck

Gustav Kurt Beck (born April 28, 1902 in Vienna , † November 7, 1983 in Wolfsburg ; also Gustav K. Beck ) was an Austrian painter and graphic artist . Gustav Kurt Beck was an important representative of modern art and abstract painting in the first two decades after the Second World War .

Life

In the years from 1937 to 1946 Beck undertook extensive artistic study trips to North Africa, Italy and the countries of the Balkans .

During the Second World War, Beck, who was in Rome , helped found an International Art Club in Italy (1945). He returned to Vienna in February 1947 , where he founded the Austrian section of the Art Club Avantgarde der neue Freiheit and was the first general secretary to take over management. Albert Paris Gütersloh became the first president of this Art Club . The Art Club first presented itself as an artist group in April 1947 with an exhibition in the Neue Galerie in Vienna.

1952 founded Beck along with Slavi Soucek in Salzburg , the gallery of contemporary art .

In 1961 Beck came to Wolfsburg at the invitation of the city to set up a printing workshop for artists in Wolfsburg Castle . Artists from home and abroad have the opportunity to work in this printing workshop. From now on, the castle will be expanded into an artistic center. Beck brought his friends - internationally known artists such as Emilio Vedova , Werner Schreib , Luciano Lattanzi and Josef Mikl  - to Wolfsburg.

In Wolfsburg, Beck met the freelance graphic designer and picture book author Katrin Brandt (* 1942 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe ) and married her.

Beck founded the artist group Schloßstraße 8 in Wolfsburg.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions:

• 1955: Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil
• 1956: T'VENSTER Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands
• 1956: Galleria La MEDUSA, Rome, (with W.Hutter, Vienna)
• 1956: Galeria Montevideo de Artes Plasticas, Montevideo, Uruguay
• 1959: State Art Gallery Baden-Baden, Society of Friends of Young Art, Baden-Baden
• 1960: Günther Franke Gallery, Munich
• 1961: Galeria SISTINA, Sao Paulo, Brazil
• 1962: Galerie Schmücking, Braunschweig
• 1964: Galerie Dieter Brusberg, Hanover
• 1965: Kunstverein Wolfsburg, town hall
• 1966: Vienna Secession, Vienna, Austria
• 1972: Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg
• 1974: Vienna Secession, Vienna, Austria
• 1982: Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg
• 1995: Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria
• 2002: "Gustav Kurt Beck - Paths of Art - Retrospective", Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg

Exhibition participation:

• 1945–1947: Participation in exhibitions of the Art Club in Italy
• 1948: 1st annual exhibition of the Austrian Art Club in Vienna, Vienna
• 1949: "MOSTRA INTERNATIONAL DELL'ART-CLUB", Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna Roma, Italy
• 1953: II. BIENAL DO MUSEU DE ARTE MODERNA SAO PAULO, Brazil
• 1953: "MOSTRA INTERNAZIONALE DI PITTURA", Messina, Italy
• 1956: "Kunst uit Oostenrijk", STEDELIJK MUSEUM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1957: "Art uit Oostenrijk", STEDELIJK VAN ABBE MUSEUM EINDHOVEN, Netherlands
• 1957: "Art from Austria", Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland
• 1957: IV. International Art Exhibition Japan, Tokyo, Osaka, Ube, Hiroshima, Kumamoto, Takamatsu, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Saseho, Japan
• 1957: "II. Exposition Internationale de Gravure", Moderna Galeria Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
• 1959: documenta II , Kassel
• 1959: III. Exposition Internationale de Gravure, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
• 1959: "100 Works on Paper, Europe", Institute Of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA
• 1960: "The 1960, international Biennial of Prints", Cincinnati Art Museum , USA
• 1960: "Austrian Painting and Sculpture 1900-1969", British Art Council, London
• 1961: BIENNALE PER LA PITTURA, Premio Repubblica San Marino
• 1962: "INTERNATIONAL PRINTS 1962", Cincinnati Art Museum, USA
• 1962: "Spring exhibition at the Kunstverein Hannover"
• 1962: "Comparaisous", Musée d'Art moderne, Paris
• 1963: German Association of Artists, Stuttgart
• 1963: "Spring exhibition at the Kunstverein Hannover"
• 1964: German Association of Artists, Berlin
• 1964: "Spring exhibition at the Kunstverein Hannover"
• 1965: "Spring exhibition at the Kunstverein Hannover"
• 1965: "Viennese painting since 1945", Künstlerhaus, Vienna
• 1966: "Spring exhibition at the Kunstverein Hannover"
• 1966: German Association of Artists, Essen

Awards

• 1982: Prize of the City of Vienna for fine arts for painting and graphics

Publications

• Exhibition catalog: Mythos Art Club. The departure after 1945 ; Kunsthalle Krems 2003
• Exhibition catalog for documenta II (1959) in Kassel: II.documenta'59. Art after 1945 . Catalog: Volume 1: Painting; Volume 2: Sculpture; Volume 3: Graphic Art; Text tape. Kassel / Cologne 1959
• Exhibition catalog: Gustav Kurt Beck “Paths of Art” - retrospective ; City Gallery Wolfsburg 2002

Web links

• Literature by and about Gustav Kurt Beck in the catalog of the German National Library
• Materials by and about Gustav Kurt Beck in the documenta archive