Kurt Leonhard

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Kurt Leonhard (born February 5, 1910 in Berlin ; died October 10, 2005 in Esslingen ) was a German art historian , poet and translator.

Life

After attending the Kant-Reformrealgymnasium , Leonhard first studied German and then art history, but dropped out in 1936 because his doctoral thesis was politically unacceptable to Hans von Marées, Adolf von Hildebrand, Konrad Fiedler and the new image conception. He then joined Karl Buchholz's art shop in Leipziger Strasse, where he succeeded Curt Valentin , who was driven into emigration . He also worked as a publisher's editor at Knaur Verlag , where he edited the history of literature by Paul Fechner and the history of art by Richard Hamann , and published a few poems.

In 1939 he was called up, but initially postponed, then again in 1941 and found fit for duty. First deployed in a Berlin office, he was transferred to Königsberg in Neumark , where he had to look after the air base library there. In 1943 he married the daughter of a pastor there, then came briefly to a transport and spare parts warehouse in Riga and was then deployed in northern Italy, where he was taken prisoner of war by the Americans in 1945, but soon returned to relative freedom and finally as a supposed personal friend of Thomas Mann Esslingen got where he was supposed to work as an American interpreter.

Leonhard settled in Esslingen, started a family and was co-founder and managing director of the Esslingen Adult Education Center for a few months. From 1950 to 1959 he was editor of the Esslinger Bechtle Verlag .

In the following years he worked as an editor and translator, especially of modern French poetry, as an important mediator between the German and French avant-garde. As an author of art history and art critical works, he endeavored to ensure the reception of contemporary art in post-war Germany. In 1955 the first volume of poetry was published, Gegenwelt , followed in 1974 by another collection of Leonhard's poetry with Wort gegen Wort .

Memberships and honors

  • 1972 member of the South German Writers' Association
  • 1972 Membre sociétaire de l'AICA (Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art)
  • 1972 Full member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz
  • 1976 Award of honorary professorship by the state of Baden-Württemberg
  • 1985 Appointment as honorary member of the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart

Works

  • The sacred surface. Conversations about modern art. Stuttgart 1947. New edition: The sacred surface. Conversations about modern art and objokus. New conversations. Stuttgart 1966.
  • The present Dante. Sense and Image in the Divine Comedy. DVA, Stuttgart 1950.
  • Appearance and epitome. The changes in the new painting. Stuttgart 1953.
  • Counterworld. Poems. Esslingen 1955.
  • Modern poetry. Monologue and manifesto. A guide. Schünemann, Bremen 1963.
  • Paul Cézanne in personal testimonies and photo documents. Rowohlt, Reinbek b. Hamburg 1966.
  • Dante Alighieri in personal testimonies and photo documents. Rowohlt, Reinbek b. Hamburg 1970.
  • Word against word. Selected poems, 1934 - 1973. Mainz 1974.
  • What is art One basic question and thirty-nine examples. Stuttgart 1981.
  • The tenth hole. Meditation pattern with literary motifs. Mainz 1983.
  • Counter images. Poetry and prose. With drawings by Erich Mansen. Stuttgart 1986.
  • Circular conclusions. Memories between poetry and logic. Tübingen 1988.
  • Texts from six decades. 1934-94. Bechtle, Esslingen 1995, ISBN 3-7628-0531-8 .
  • Luminous fish. Edited by Friedhelm Röttger. Bechtle, Esslingen 1997, ISBN 3-7628-0540-7 .

Translations by Dante Alighieri , Henri Michaux , Gaston Bachelard , Paul Valéry , Michel Leiris and EM Cioran .

With Karl Schwedhelm, editor of the Lyrik series from this period .

literature

  • Peter Fischer, Günter Baumann: Leonhard, Kurt. In: Wilhelm Kühlmann (Ed.): Killy Literature Lexicon . Authors and works from the German-speaking cultural area. 2., completely revised 7th de Gruyter, Berlin 2010, p. 347 f.
  • Renate Wiehager, Christian Gögger: Le grand jeu - the big game. The art critic, editor, poet and translator Kurt Leonhard. In: Literary traces in Esslingen. Esslingen 2003.
  • Friedhelm Röttger: biography Kurt Leonhard. In: Kurt Leonhard: Texts from six decades. 1934-94. Esslingen 1995. Updated and extended version online (Word document).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Leonhard, Kurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reonharuto, Kuruto (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian, poet and translator
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 10, 2005
Place of death Esslingen