Jürgen Wölbing

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Jürgen Wölbing (born January 14, 1942 in Breslau ; † September 3, 2009 in Schöneck ) was a German draftsman , graphic artist , painter , sculptor and illustrator .

life and work

Wölbing came to Lake Constance as a refugee in 1945, where he spent his childhood. In Frankfurt, where the family moved there in 1957, Wölbing attended evening school at the Städelschule with Walter Hergenhahn when he was still in primary school . In 1962 after graduating from high school, he graduated from the Bundeswehr. He then studied art history for two semesters, which he found unsatisfactory. During this time he developed a personal style in his drawing and painting. Between 1965 and 1970 Jürgen Wölbing found work at the offset printing company Paul Robert Wilk in Seulberg. Paul Robert Wilk was a collotype printer and also a master lithographer who had set up an offset printing company in Friedrichsdorf-Seulberg after the war. Wilk had a special love for art and artists, supported them, experimented and developed processes for gridless art print. Wölbing was able to assist him and, after learning the necessary skills, was given permission to print his own graphics. 1969–1972 he set up his own small offset printing company: Octopus Offset, Bad Homburg vdH Here Wölbing also took on the printing of original flat-screen graphics for a number of artists with an introduction to this new technique, proofs, color advice and edition printing. In 1969 he published his first own book in VO Stomps ' Eremiten-Presse , Stierstadt / Ts., Der Herr Till M. Stoch, recording in pictures with sufficient explanation (50 single and multi-colored original flat-plate graphics, drawn directly on the plate) . The book was voted one of the most beautiful books of the year by the Book Art Foundation.

Since 1966 Jürgen Wölbing has shown his work in around 100 exhibitions at home and abroad. From the mid-1970s he lived as a freelance artist in Niederdorfelden. His interest in artistic printmaking, its technical implementation, printing, book-making and book illustration has not left him, also for existential reasons. As early as 1965 he also worked in the technique of etching. Then came the woodcut in 1979 and the lithography in 1980 (at the Manfred Hügelow lithographic company). With about 25 like-minded people he founded the Künstler Syndikat Frankfurt eV in 1975, of which he was chairman until it was dissolved in 1983, and where he also directed drawing and printing courses. In 1981 Jürgen Wölbing was awarded the Senefelder Prize for flat printing for the largest original flat-screen graphic "Life is very complicated" (100 × 140 cm, 6 colors). With Horst Eschwege, the flat printing master and friend since the time together at the Wilk printing company, he published 1983–1989 in their publishing house Produktion Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts. original graphic, bibliophile books and graphics. They introduced the term "original flat printing" for the term "offset lithography", which was misused at the time. 1986 Wölbing received the Main-Kinzig-Kulturpreis. The President of the German Academy of Language and Poetry, Herbert Heckmann , who gave the laudation on the occasion of the award, said: “A critical mind who maintains his independence, goes his way with brooding steadfastness, neither himself, nor the way Making viewing his pictures easy. ... The pictures that Wölbing draws or paints do not match what he intends to be a real or imagined, presented object. They deviate, they are just different, in order to grasp the OTHER, let's call it beauty, let's call it possibility or nature. This cannot be paraphrased, cannot be described. As it is conceived in the pictures, it is only comprehensible. "

In 1990 Jürgen Wölbing founded the Kunsthaus Hinter den Fences in Schöneck-Büdesheim with the artist Susanne Melchert, his long-time partner and second wife. They acquired parts of the old, listed school building, began to renovate the building and implemented their concept there, in which everyday life and art, living, working and exhibiting (not just their own works) are possible under one roof. This is where the Edition Kunsthaus Hinter den Fences, printing workshop and publishing house was created in 1991, for which they received the VO Stomps Prize of the City of Mainz in 2007 and, among other things, a. The Kunsthaus-Buchomat library appeared here from 1994 - small art books with and by various artists using various printing techniques; with the BUCHOMATEN, a specially built machine from which you can pull out the small art books after inserting money. Since the upcoming house renovation required more space, Wölbing relocated the Kunsthaus printing workshop to the municipality's own premises. He set up the "Büdesheimer Druckwerkstatt" there and added it to the implementation of courses: letterpress - gravure - planographic printing. The opening and inauguration took place in May 2006. The Büdesheim printing workshop was planned as a public place for imparting knowledge, in cooperation with schools, for teacher training, and as a workplace for artists. After his death, the Büdesheim printing workshop was closed.

Jürgen Wölbing loved nature as a counterpart to the bustle not only in the art business, but also the satirical and grotesque, which played an important role for him. The Oberhessisches Museum Gießen owns one of the most bizarre works by the sculptor Wölbing: "The real joys of tautology" (1980). The work consists of fired and painted clay and shows figures on an ascending checkerboard pattern that illustrate the whole demonic everyday life.

Wölbing also enjoyed working with contemporary writers. Ulli Harth published the volume “The unfinished seven of the roller coaster” in 1986 (production Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts.). These 41 miniature grotesques are accompanied by 17 multi-colored, full-page original flat-screen graphics and 32 illustrations interspersed with the text.

One of the highlights of his book art is the 1985 publication of the small book of clouds: Carl Gustav Carus , “Fragments of a painterly diary” (with 6-color original flat-screen graphics - Eschwege & Wölbing production, Friedrichsdorf / Ts.). Here Wölbing pursued his natural philosophical ambitions.

The bibliophile editions with woodcuts, the Wölbing u. a. for The Bear Press, Dr. Benda, Bayreuth, on texts by Ernst Jünger : "Flugträume" (1983), or for Edition Tiessen , Neu Isenburg, Franz Kafka : "Die Legende vom Türkeeper" (1984) and Heinrich Heine : "From, Die Harzreise ', world of appearances und Gemütswelt ”(1993),“ have become something unmistakable in their subtle processing of the material, reminiscent of wood engraving ”.

In 1990 Jürgen Wölbing designed and drew the original book “ Friedrich Hölderlin : 'From Joy' - 7 maxims. Reflections on writing. Fragments. ”Wölbing created portraits of the poet, which he placed alongside Holderlin's text. The seven-section text of 1779 is considered an important document for understanding the writer, who was diagnosed with madness five years later. "These portraits show the multifaceted and multi-layered character of Hölderlin, from the ideal of his time to the mentally ill poet and his dissolving personality. That is not to trace, but to understand in the deepest sense."

The immersion in the word and the lifting of elementary images can also be observed in Edgar Allan Poe's “Gordon Pym” (illustrated in 1980 for the Gutenberg Book Guild, Frankfurt). Poe's excessive scream, his breathtaking stories of drugs, alcohol and mental decline, but also Poe's vivid performance in the precision of language and accuracy of description find their equivalent in the pictures.

In 1996, Wölbing published the artist's book “Fülle und Vullen Tausendstaubsilbern. T'AO YÜAN MING: The spring in the peach blossom forest. ”(40 pages with original flat prints in 3 shades of gray, wood and linocuts, some in color, metal type and handwriting.) Here a legend from ancient China is told that tells of the search for paradise.

For the work “Das Totenschiff” by B. Traven (Gutenberg Book Guild, Frankfurt 1999), with 68 drawings, he received the 2001 Hans Meid Prize for Illustration. Friedhelm Häring said in his laudation for the award winner: "The Greek word for painting is zógraphiké. Zóon is the living and graphiké is the art of drawing. Wölbing records what the essence of the word conveys as the living. what exists in the incomprehensible resonates. A surreal power of affirmation and denial is inherent in his soul and body and in the structure of his lines the essence is caught for a moment charged with tension. His pictures are a flight out of temporality from the ability of simultaneity the mixture of levels and parts, which is rare and sovereign. This imagery grew steadily up to the illustrations for B. Traven's ship of the dead. "

Jürgen Wölbing died on September 3, 2009 after a long and serious illness.

Illustrated books and portfolios

  • Kurt Neuburger : The people of Turakarki. Narrative. With original flat print graphics. Hermit Press, Stierstadt / Ts. 1966.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Circus. Portfolio with 16 original offset engravings. 1967.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Aggression. Portfolio with 16 original offset engravings. 1968.
  • Otto Jägersberg : The ranger Jürgen. Narrative. With original flat print graphics. Hermit Press, Stierstadt / Ts. 1969.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Mr. Till M. Stoch. Recorded in pictures with adequate explanation. 50 original flat prints. Hermit Press, Stierstadt / Ts. 1969.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Frankfurt views. Portfolio with 12 six-color original flat-plate graphics. 1979.
  • Edgar Allan Poe : Gordon Pym. Cumbersome report from Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Translated into German by Arno Schmidt . With 39 reproduced color drawings and 15 reproduced woodcuts. Book guild Gutenberg , Frankfurt / M. 1980.
  • Ulli Harth: The freedom of shadows. Portfolio with 6 two-tone lithographs. 1981.
  • Ernst Jünger : Dreams of flight. 21 Capriccios from "The Adventurous Heart". With 6 woodcuts, 1 of them in two colors. The Bear Press, Bayreuth. 1983.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Ocean. Folder with 12 single and multi-colored woodcuts. 1983.
  • Ernst Jünger : The tiger lily. Single sheet print with 4-color woodcut. 1983.
  • Ulli Harth: Today, at the other end. Single sheet print with woodcut. 1983.
  • Herbert Heckmann : Don't be afraid of sunsets. Single-sheet print with three-color woodcut. 1983.
  • Franz Kafka : The legend of the doorkeeper. With three woodcuts. 34. Printed by Edition Tiessen, Neu-Isenburg. 1984.
  • Wolfgang Hilbig : The task. Single-sheet printing with two-tone original flat-screen graphics. 1984.
  • Wilhelm von Ploennies : Life, work and end of Freiherr Leberecht vom Knopf. With 11 reproduced color drawings. Society of Hessian Literature Friends, Darmstadt. 1985.
  • Carl Gustav Carus : Fragments of a Picturesque Diary. 6-color original flat print graphics. Production Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts. 1985.
  • György Petri : To FA single-sheet printing with five-color original flat-screen graphics. 1985.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: ten thousand steps. Unique book. 1985.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Tödlein, concerning the madness of the military. A dance of death. Portfolio with 8 four-color original flat-plate graphics. Production Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts. 1986.
  • Georg Christoph Lichtenberg : Physiognomic corrections. With 8 original flat print graphics. Production Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts. 1986.
  • Leszek Kolakowski : Jael or the wrong ways of heroism. An edifying story. With 2 woodcuts. 43. Printed by Edition Tiessen, Neu-Isenburg. 1986.
  • Bassompierre / Goethe / Hofmannsthal : Experience of the Marshal of Bassompierre . A memory from 1606. With 1 woodcut. The Bear Press, Bayreuth. 1986
  • Ulli Harth: The unfinished seven of the roller coaster. With 43 color original flat print graphics. Production Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts. 1986.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Drawings. With 41 reproductions. Production Eschwege & Wölbing, Galerie Blaszczyk and Book Guild Gutenberg. 1986.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Tuscany. Portfolio with 8 four- to five-color original flat print graphics. 1988.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Mainland . Picture book with 32 color original flat-screen graphics. Production Eschwege & Wölbing, Friedrichsdorf / Ts. 1988.
  • Friedrich Karl Barth (ed.): Because you are sick ... With 9 double-sided original flat print graphics. Advice center for the design of the Protestant church in Hesse, Frankfurt / M. 1988.
  • Friedrich Hölderlin : Seven maxims. Drawn original book (unique). 1990.
  • Heinrich Heine : From "Die Harzreise". Appearance world and emotional world. With 3 colored woodcuts. 73rd print by Edition Tiessen, Neu-Isenburg. 1993.
  • Jorge Luis Borges : The Labyrinth. Single-sheet print with three-color wood / linocut. The Bear Press, Bayreuth. 1993.
  • Ulli Harth: The change in life. With original flat print graphics. Kunsthaus Buchomat book no.1.1993.
  • Ulrich Schödlbauer : Casanova Etudes. With original flat print graphics. Edition Kunsthaus Behind the Fences, Schöneck. 1994.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Slight milling. An artist picture book with original linocuts. Kunsthaus Buchomat book no.8.1994.
  • Ulli Harth: The appearance of an important person. With original flat print graphics. Kunsthaus Buchomat book no.11.1994.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: I am who I am. An artist picture book with reproductions of 72 drawings. Kunsthaus Buchomat book no.12.1994.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Abundance and emptiness a thousand dusty silver. T'AO YÜAN MING: The spring in the peach blossom forest. Free translation into German by Harald Gutherz. With 12 multi-colored original flat-screen graphics, woodcuts and linocuts. Edition Kunsthaus Behind the Fences, Schöneck. 1996.
  • Edgar Allan Poe : The Ghost Castle. Single sheet print with 2 woodcuts. The Bear Press, Bayreuth. 1996.
  • THE CLOCK. Three poems from different times by Charles Baudelaire , Rainer Maria Rilke and Ulrich Schödlbauer . With original five-color flat-screen graphics. Kunsthaus Buchomat book no.5.1996.
  • B. Traven : The death ship. With 68 reproduced drawings. Book guild Gutenberg, Frankfurt / M. 1999.

Art awards

Working in public collections

  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach
  • Gutenberg Museum, Mainz
  • Meermanno Museum, The Hague
  • Upper Hessian Museum, Giessen
  • Museum of Applied Arts, Frankfurt am Main
  • Museum Gothisches Haus, Bad Homburg vdH
  • Museum for Sepulchral Culture, Kassel
  • Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main
  • Rockefeller College, Princeton University

Literature (selection)

  • Galerie D'Eendt: Bayrle, Jäger, Wölbing. Amsterdam. 1974
  • Cage. Situation experience representation. Artist Syndicate Frankfurt. Frankfurt am Main. 1976
  • Gráfica realista de la República Federal de Alemania en LaHabana, Cuba = Realistic graphics from the Federal Republic of Germany in Havana, Cuba. Friendship Society Federal Republic of Germany-Cuba, [Bonn]. 1981. 84 p. (Exhibition catalog of 32 artists).
  • Wolfgang Tiessen: The book illustration in Germany, Austria and Switzerland since 1945, Vol. V-VI. Neu-Isenburg, 1983/1989.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: The printed picture in the book. 50 artists - 50 books. Exhibition and catalog, Municipal Gallery in the Canvas House, Frankfurt am Main. 1986.
  • Jürgen Wölbing: Drawings. Production Eschwege & Wölbing. Friedrichsdorf / Ts. 1987.
  • Production Eschwege & Wölbing. In: Albert Spindler: TYPES. Press prints of the German-speaking area since 1945. Gifkendorf. 1988.
  • Kunsttage Dreieich Städtische Galerie: Approaching infinity. Dreieich. 1998.
  • Hans Meid Prize for Jürgen Wölbing. In: Illustration 63. Magazine for book illustration. Issue 3/2001.
  • Ulrich Schödlbauer: Wölbing's amusements. In: The land of the frogs. Manutius-Verlag, Heidelberg. 2001.
  • Friedhelm Häring: Lines between things. Speech on the awarding of the Hans Meid Prize to Jürgen Wölbing. In: Illustration 63. Magazine for book illustration. Issue 1/2002. In: Marginalia. Journal of book art and bibliophilia. 165th issue (1, 2002).
  • Jürgen Wölbing. In: 25 years of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis culture award. Gelnhausen. 2002.
  • Jürgen Wölbing. In: The Reich-Ranicki Collection. Portraits of writers from two centuries. Frankfurt am Main. 2003.
  • Ulrich Siebgeber: Jürgen Wölbing, the draftsman. In: GlobKult: Magazin. 2007
  • Jürgen Wölbing. In: Hans Meid Prize for Book Illustration 1994–2008. Faber & Faber publishing house. Leipzig. 2008.
  • Jürgen Wölbing. In: artist portraits. Culture award winner of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis. Gelnhausen. 2009.
  • Renate Casey: The Büdesheim printing workshop no longer exists. In: Bad Vilbeler Neue Presse, July 15, 2010.
  • Friedhelm Häring: The master of the lines between things, Jürgen Wölbing. In: Graphic Art. International magazine for book art and graphics. New episode, issue 2/2012.
  • Some highlights on Jürgen Wölbing's life and work. Kunsthaus Behind the Fences / ASKU-PRESSE, Schöneck and Bad Nauheim. 2013.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brochure: Horst Eschwege, Die Original-Flachdruckgraphik, some remarks on historical, artistic and technical requirements
  2. ↑ ( Wolfgang Tiessen , 1986)
  3. ↑ (Friedhelm Häring, director of the Upper Hessian Museum Gießen)
  4. ↑ Kulturpreis des Main-Kinzig-Kreis, 1986 , accessed on May 5, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Wölbing, Jürgen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German draftsman and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH September 3, 2009
Place of death Schöneck