Lothar Lang

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Lothar Lang (born March 20, 1928 in Werdau ; † July 20, 2013 in Grünheide ) was a German art historian and art critic in the GDR .

Life

Lothar Lang was born in Werdau in 1928 and after 1945 worked as a teacher in Culmitzsch and Altenburg . Lang joined the KPD in December 1945 and became a member of the SED . He studied art history, history and education. He then worked as a lecturer at the Potsdam University of Education and was appointed to the teaching staff. As head of the art cabinet at the Institute for Teacher Training in Berlin-Weißensee and Pankow from 1962 to 1973, Lang advanced to become an important mediator of young and non-conformist art in the GDR. At documenta 6in Kassel in 1977 he was responsible for the contributions by artists from the GDR. The publication of 20 prints in the "Kabinett-Presse" from 1965 to 1973 and Lang's collaboration with Hans Marquardt on the publication of the artist portfolios of the Leipzig Reclam Verlag from 1978 onwards was of great importance .

Lang was considered the "Pope" of art criticism in the GDR. From 1957 to 1991 he wrote art reviews for the magazines Bildende Kunst and Die Weltbühne . Elke Lang gave a selection of his reviews in the Weltbühne made by Lang before his death in 2016 under the title Encounter and Reflection. Art criticism in the world stage in the Quintus publishing house . His book “Painting and Graphics in the GDR” received great attention in the GDR's art landscape as well as internationally.

Lang was a founding member of the Pirckheimer Society and from 1964 to 1998 editor of the "Marginalien", a magazine for book art and bibliophilia, which is published by the Pirckheimer Society. His interest in historical book art was reflected in several books on the subject.

In the 1970s, Lang became director of the Burgk Castle Museum , where he played a key role in building up the bookplate collection until he was released in 1990. a. published the "Burgk bags" with original miniature graphics.

Soon after the political change, Lang's intensive activity for the Ministry of State Security was proven.

Fonts (selection)

  • Cosmopolitanism and the "American Way of Life" . Kongress-Verlag, Berlin 1954
  • The painting and graphics of the Renaissance in Germany . Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1958
  • The Bauhaus 1919–1933, Idea and Reality . Central Institute for Design, Berlin 1965 (series of studies on applied arts. Modern times 2)
  • Encounters in the studio . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1975
  • Painting and graphics in the GDR . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1978
  • Constructivism and book art . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1990
  • Surrealism and book art . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1993
  • The graphics collector. A book for collectors and everyone who wants to become one . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1979
  • Impressionism and book art in France and Germany . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1998
  • Book Art and Art History in the 20th Century . Graphics, illustration, painter's book. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2005
  • A life for art. Memories . Faber & Faber, Leipzig 2009

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary for Lothar Lang in: Börsenblatt
  2. ↑ Hartmut Pätzke: Lothar Lang: A life for art , 2010
  3. ^ Eulogy by Ekkehard Richter for the Gerenot Richter exhibition on March 31, 2017 in the Graphics Studio Gallery in Berlin
  4. ↑ Lothar Lang: Encounter and reflection. Art criticism in the world stage . Ed .: Elke Lang. Quintus-Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-945256-77-0 .
  5. ↑ Hannelore Offner, Klaus Schroeder (Ed.): Bounded-out. Fine arts and party rule in the GDR 1961–1989 , Berlin 2000, p. 229.
  6. ^ Jürgen Hohmeyer: School essays from IM . In: Der Spiegel . No. 44 , 2000 ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Lang, Lothar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Werdau
DATE OF DEATH 20th July 2013
Place of death Grünheide (Mark)