Kurt Hallegger

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Kurt Hallegger (born July 8, 1901 in Mährisch Schönberg , Austria-Hungary , † October 10, 1963 in Munich ) was a German-Moravian painter and stage designer who emigrated to Germany and worked there mainly for the Bavarian State Theater .

Life

Kurt Hallegger grew up as the son of the factory director Josef Hallegger and his wife Therese Hallegger (born von Stellwag Carion) in Mährisch-Schöneberg. He attended grammar school there and studied in 1919 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Breslau and two years later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna .

The conclusion of his studies was the visit to the master school of the Prague Academy in 1923. During this time he met his future wife Annemarie Bunzl, whose later stage name would be Amei Bunzl-Hallegger.

In 1926 Kurt Hallegger was awarded the Prix ​​de Rome . Until 1945 he ran a small studio in Prague and took part in exhibitions of the Prague Secession , of which he was a member, with Oskar Kokoschka and Josef Hegenbarth , among others . At that time he was active as a portrait, landscape and fresco painter and from 1928 to 1933 he also worked as an illustrator for Simplicissimus , Cross Section and other daily newspapers.

Kurt Hallegger's artistic work was shaped by several stays abroad. He traveled to Italy, France and Morocco and stayed in Greece for a year in 1936 in order to be inspired by foreign culture and new landscapes. This was particularly evident in the newly acquired, bright colors and dynamics of his pictures. Hallegger's call as professor at the Prague Academy was prevented by the political conditions at the time. So he came to Munich in 1946.

When he arrived in the Bavarian capital, Hallegger was discovered by Heinz Hilpert , with whom he had been friends for a long time. This gave Kurt Hallegger the impetus to devote himself to the design of stage sets . First he worked at the Städtische Bühnen Nürnberg , a short time later switched to the Bavarian State Theater and the Münchner Kammerspiele . In the State Theater equipped Hallegger around 40 productions and was a guest of renowned theaters in Germany and abroad. However, his work was not limited to the theater. In the film industry, Kurt Hallegger worked as a set decorator and costume designer in the films Highness Let Ask (1954) and Die Heiratskomödie (1955). He even ended up in Istanbul, where he furnished the first Turkish color film, The Carpet Weaver, with sets and costumes.

In 1957 Kurt Hallegger was forced to take a creative break because of a serious heart condition and pneumonia. Doctors attributed these clinical pictures to both physical and psychological overexertion. The artist recovered and was able to resume work. 1962 Kurt Hallegger received at the Paris Theater Festival Theater of Nations the prize for the best stage of the season. The winning picture is the residence theater production Die Mauer by Millard Lampell.

Kurt Hallegger died on October 10, 1963 at the age of 62 from complications from a heart attack.

painting

It was characteristic of Hallegger's painting style to capture the dynamic of a movement in his pictures with just a few, slightly curved lines of drawing. In his sketches and studies, it is not the detailed reproduction of the object or the person that is decisive, but the overall composition should appeal to the viewer.

His painting is characterized by volatility and moods. For this reason, it is not surprising that Kurt Hallegger turned away from naturalistic and representational art in the early 1950s in order to devote himself to abstraction . It was important for him to break away from the object and express his visions and dreams through abstract forms.

The Czech artist drew his inspiration from abstract expressionism . Above all, the influences of the French Informel are reflected in his works. Light colors of high dramatic intensity emerge from a dark background sparingly and with superior accentuation and are thus reminiscent of the French expressionist Pierre Soulages , who set black bar shapes against a light background.

Stage sets

Hallegger designed his stage sets in a classic, i.e. perspective - representational way. The play between light and space was particularly important to him. He used the light carefully in order to create the depth of space typical of his stage designs. With Hallegger, the tension in color is always concentrated on striking individual forms. The scene is thus focused on the essentials, combined with a clear room structure.

The fact that Kurt Hallegger found his way into abstraction in his painting becomes clear in his stage designs, even if only partially. Large-scale scenes of pieces such as King Lear (1961) or Hamlet (1961) are only limited by a few skeletal architectural hints and abstract floating parts. This aspect is also taken up in the play The Persians (1961). A ruin-like openwork gate sculpture stands in front of a bas-relief hung in the room , which is sublime structured with blood- and bronze-colored cracks and layers .

Stage equipment

Among other things, Kurt Hallegger equips the following productions:

Engagements

References

  • Dr. Herbert A. Frenzel / Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Moser: Kürschner's Biographical Theater Handbook / Acting, Opera, Film, Radio / Germany-Austria-Switzerland . Berlin, 1956
  • Faber, Monica / Weizert, Loni: Then they played again, the Bavarian State Theater 1946 - 1986 . Munich, 1986
  • Memorial exhibition of Kurt Hallegger / Deutsches Theatermuseum <Munich>. Munich, 1964
  • Cooperative of German Stage Members: German Stage Yearbook / Theater History Year and Address Book / Theater, Film and Television . Hamburg, 1965
  • Hallegger, Kurt: Hallegger, Erlangen, Orangery, March 30th to April 28th, 1963. Erlangen, 1963
personal data
SURNAME Hallegger, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Moravian painter and stage designer
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Moravian Schönberg , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 1963
Place of death Munich