Karl-Heinz Kress

Karl-Heinz Kress (also Karl-Heinz Kreß ; born October 27, 1928 in Königsberg , † November 2, 1979 in Marburg ) was a German painter .

life and work

Kress grew up in Königsberg. After he was drafted towards the end of the Second World War , he came to Schleswig after the war ended in 1945 . He learned the profession of decorator . He married in 1951 and came to Marburg after the birth of his first daughter in 1954.

In the central Hessian town, he initially worked in his learned profession for a clothing store and thus supported his growing family - three more daughters were born by 1961. At the same time he was active as an artist. In 1965 he gave up his profession to work as an independent artist. Kress was a great admirer of the Impressionist painter Lovis Corinth . The autodidact also received significant impulses from the Marburg painter and graphic artist Franz Frank , whose influence is evident in numerous works by Kress.

Kress mostly painted in oil , more rarely also watercolors . His most popular subjects were portraits and landscapes. He usually created his pictures in the great outdoors. Some of his landscapes were created on his numerous travels, others show landscapes from his adopted home in Central Hesse. One example is the picture “Haymaking in the Lahn Valley”, which he created near the Gisselberg district of Marburg . In addition, Kress often dealt with Greek mythology in his works . His most famous work of this kind is considered to be a picture of the Cyclops Polyphemus .

Kress' works are particularly characterized by a gripping brushstroke. Nevertheless, the quality of his pictures is viewed as very different. This is associated with the artist's lifestyle. Kress is described as fun-loving and sociable, but on the other hand also very unstable and sensitive. In the last few years of his life, Kress suffered from high alcohol consumption. In order to be able to pay outstanding bills, he painted commissioned paintings. His artistic work waned increasingly until his untimely death at the age of 51.

Paintings and exhibitions

The paintings by Kress hang not only in many prominent Marburg houses, but also in the well-known buildings in Kassel and Wiesbaden and in the French twin city of Marburg, Poitiers . The landscape paintings “Haymaking in the Lahntal” and “Totenmaar in the Vulkaneifel”, which was created on one of Kress's numerous journeys, hang in the foyer of the Niederwalgern community center , a village south of Marburg.

During his lifetime, Kress and a gallery owner organized several exhibitions outside of Marburg, which helped him to achieve a certain degree of popularity. After his death it was initially quiet about his works. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his death, a large commemorative exhibition with numerous works by the painter took place in a gallery in Marburg.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} painting: Karl-Heinz Kreß. Retrieved February 27, 2010 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Stefan Weisbrod: Freed from the dust and put back into perspective ; in: Oberhessische Presse , February 26, 2010, p. 8