Hans-Georg Lenzen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans-Georg Lenzen (* July 2, 1921 in Moers ; † July 21, 2014 in Grevenbroich ) was a German professor of design , author of children's books, illustrator and translator .

Life

Hans-Georg Lenzen was born in Moers as the only child of the married couple Margarethe and Josef Lenzen (architect). At the end of his school career, he passed the Abitur at the Adolfinum grammar school in 1939. Until 1945 he did military service in the air defense - as a lieutenant and head of an anti-aircraft battery in Russia (Ukraine), Romania and Hungary. In 1944 he married Gertrud Czischke; from this marriage four sons were born: Klaus-Dieter, Rainer, Thomas, Christoph. At the end of the war he was taken prisoner by the Americans for a short time and was then able to return to Moers.

In 1946 he began studying art teaching with Heinrich Kamps (painting), Friedrich Wilhelm Schmurr (painting) and Otto Coester (graphics and literary seminar) at the Düsseldorf Art Academy . Through the mediation of Coester, the first connections to publishers were made with various illustration jobs. In the course of time this resulted in activities for newspapers and magazines in the field of illustration and caricature; but also for written contributions, reviews, comments, glosses. The television that had just emerged gave him the opportunity to organize courses in drawing and illustration in afternoon programs. He received offers from book publishers for illustration and also for translations - initially from English and French. This activity became so extensive that after his state examination for the teaching post in 1949 he continued to work as a freelancer until he received the offer in 1952 to teach art history and drawing at the Werkkunstschule Düsseldorf.

In addition to his teaching activities, he continued to work as a translator, illustrator and author. He created stories about Uncle Tobi, told in verse, as well as language games in the form of poems, which have been used in many German reading books.

He also became a sought-after translator. The books by Little Nick ( René Goscinny / Jean-Jacques Sempé ), translated from French , and Guus Kuijer's books, translated from Dutch , became particularly well known . When he received the German youth book award in 1982 for the children's book Tell Me by Grandma , the translation by Hans-Georg Lenzen was also particularly appreciated.

1963–1964 he received the offer as a guest lecturer at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri to teach. In 1966 he became director of the Peter-Behrens-Werkkunstschule, and in 1972 he was vice-rector of the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences. Until 1986 he was a professor of design and illustration in the design department. In 1971 he moved into a studio in Meerbusch near Düsseldorf to study watercolors more intensively . In his watercolors - mostly developed from drawings - he created a very unique visual language, full of light, which, with its sketchy abstraction in detail, was primarily based on the artists of the Renaissance. A formative encounter with Werner Tübke in Salzburg influenced his drawing and painting, and he discovered a. a. in Venice and Tuscany motifs for his calligraphic-looking, light-containing watercolor technique.

After 18 years of working together, he married Marcelle Virgence Ruck in 1986 and moved to Grevenbroich. In the same year he retired. For a new German language school for Francophone, which was developed at the University of Mons in Belgium and published by Didier in Paris ( In Bonn , Volumes 1 and 2), he received an extensive illustration contract. From 1995 he took part twice as a lecturer for drawing and watercolor on the subject of "Architecture as a way of life" at the summer academy organized by Friedrich Wagner on the Greek island of Sifnos. In 2004, 80 stories by René Goscinny / Jean-Jacques Sempé, Little Nick were discovered in France, which had not yet appeared in book form. At the age of 83, Lenzen was commissioned to translate and received a large number of accolades in the regional and national press.

In addition to his activities as an author, translator, illustrator and painter, he has dealt a lot with music. From his early piano lessons he retained a fondness for the harpsichord. In the 1960s it was improvisation on the guitar. Later the Renaissance lute became more important to him. His interest in bagpipes (from central France) led to participation in a bagpipe group in Cologne under the guidance of Jean Pierre van Hees. An old bandoneon made him try his hand at Argentine tango music.

In search of new motifs, he traveled to France, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, England, Ireland, Spain and several times to Greece. In connection with his guest lectureship, he was able to travel to the USA from Texas to New England.

plant

In his work, Hans-Georg Lenzen repeatedly addresses the “world as a scene”: social issues in their ambiguity, the stage with its tragic or comic characters. The allegorical gaze and the puzzling nature of the picture have always been central to him.

Its picturesque subject moved alongside extensive nature studies in the field of Metaphorical: puppet shows, puppet shows, clad figures, parables for Le monde comme il va He processed these issues not only repeatedly in drawing, watercolor and painting, he painted them on wooden balls think of the curiosity cabinets of the Renaissance and are also of comparable virtuosity. In 2019, under the direction of Irmgard Sonnen and designed by Marie Mick, a comprehensive monograph on the artist and teacher Hans-Georg Lenzen was published, published by the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences , Department of Design.

Works

As an illustrator and translator (selection)

  • Théophile Gautier: Jean and Jeannette. 1954 (illustration)
  • André Maurois : Patapuf and Filifer. 1956
  • Paul Guth: first floor courtyard side left. 1957
  • Paul Guth: ... for a later marriage. 1959
  • Paul Guth: Only those who know love. 1959
  • Adolf Himmel: Lazy magic at Fionn Castle. 1962 (illustration)
  • James Turber: The Mysterious O. 1966
  • James Thurber: Thirteen clocks. 1967
  • Charles Simmons: Egg Powder. 1967
  • Guus Kuijer: Boarded up windows: ghosts live there. 1979
  • Guus Kuijer: Stand on your head and clap your hands. 1980
  • Guus Kuijer: Tell me about grandma. 1981
  • Guus Kuijer: Let's see if you laugh. 1983
  • Leo Frobenius: The son of the lover. 1998 (illustration)

As an author (selection)

  • Man, don't be surprised. 1956
  • The miracle carpet. 1959
  • Fix and the circus. 1960
  • The blue ball. 1961
  • Uncle Tobi. 1965
  • Uncle Tobi's country party , 1966
  • Visiting Uncle Tobi. 1970
  • It's Uncle Tobi's birthday. 1975
  • Then I'll give you a ferris wheel. 1969
  • Rabbits hop over stubble of rye. 1972
  • Knife, fork and spoon. 1978

As a translator (selection)

  • Ylla: Two little bears. 1954
  • René Goscinny , Jean-Jacques Sempé : Little Nick. 1974
  • René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: Little Nick and his gang. 1974
  • René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: Little Nick and the school. 1975
  • René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: Little Nick and the holidays. 1976
  • René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: Little Nick and the girls. 1976
  • René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: News from little Nick. 2005
  • René Goscinny, Jean-Jacques Sempé: Little Nick is back. 2006

Exhibitions (selection)

  • Winter exhibition in Düsseldorf, 1972–1974
  • Electoral Gardener's House, Bonn, 1972, 1977
  • Maison Alfort, Paris, 1973
  • Gallery at de Marspoort, Xanten, 1980
  • Ilverich Gallery, 1980
  • Artists' Association Malkasten Düsseldorf, 1987
  • City. Gallery Peschkenhaus, Moers, 1989
  • District Museum Neuss, Zons, 1990
  • Grafschafter Museum Moers, 2001
  • Kulturbahnhof Eller, 2005
  • City Galerie Villa Erckens, Grevenbroich, 2017

monograph

  • Hans-Georg Lenzen: With a light hand, the scenic metaphor of the graphic. Edited by Irmgard Sonnen. University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, Department of Design, Düsseldorf 2019, ISBN 978-3-00-062056-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Georg Lenzen. In: Kürschner's German Literature Calendar 2014/2015: Volume I: A – O. Walter De Gruyter Incorporated, 2014, ISBN 978-3-11-033720-4 , p. 626.
  2. ↑ Contents ; Preface ; bibliography
personal data
SURNAME Lenzen, Hans-Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author, illustrator and translator
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Moers
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 2014
Place of death Grevenbroich