Lucas Suppin

Lucas Suppin (born Lukas, born July 2, 1911 in Untertauern , † February 24, 1998 in Salzburg ) was an Austrian painter from the École de Paris .

Based on the classic training at the Vienna Art Academy and the representational conservative current that shaped Salzburg's art life after the Second World War , Suppin went to France to develop his own independence in abstract painting - a painting that resulted entirely from color.

Lucas Suppin in his studio

Life

Childhood and youth

Lukas Suppin spent his childhood as the second born together with four brothers in the Innergebirgsgau of the state of Salzburg, which is characterized by poverty and rural life . On the one hand he received a disciplined and strict upbringing from his father, Georg Suppin. On the other hand, it was his father who introduced him to painting , music , literature and archeology . As a school principal himself an enthusiastic painter, archaeologist and especially photographer in his spare time , he promoted the respective talents of his sons to the best of his ability. The father became aware of his son Lukas' talent for drawing at an early age and supported this as far as he could. The eldest brother George, however, chose the path of a writer; and Erwin, born a year after Lukas, became an architect.

Further stations:

• After finishing secondary school, first drawing courses with Tony Angerer in Salzburg
• from 1931 to 1933 attended the arts and crafts school in Vienna
• from 1933 to 1937 training at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with Wilhelm Dachauer
• from 1939 to 1945 ordinary soldier with artistic activity in the division
• from 1945 to 1950 participation in the current exhibitions of the Salzburg Art Association
• 1948 admission to the Vienna Secession

Self-portrait, 1939

France

In 1950 Suppin left Austria as a painter of figurative expressionism for France in order to go to the roots of modernism. For him, this step was the break from conventional painting to the constant search for new forms. From this time on he wrote himself Lucas with a "c", the exchange of this letter was the prelude to a new life program. At the time, he was in his early forties, open to new ideas - with the feeling that he had barely developed artistically because of the stolen war years . A stormy time began for him, his painting changed completely.

For the first two years, Marseille became his first French homeland, like all artists of the time, he commuted between the Côte d'Azur and Paris depending on the season . In Marseille, Suppin met the Polish painter Moise Kisling , who introduced him to Picasso's circle of artists . Suppin maintained close contact with the representatives of the école de Paris at the time , so u. a. with Poliakoff, Manessier , Hartung , Ubac, Soulages, etc. He took an active part in this great world of art, in a time when there was a tremendous optimism, where everything met and where abstraction or like Michel Tapié de Celeyran - a close friend of Suppin's - it put it "un art autre" found her new home.

From 1953 his new residence was Saint-Paul-de-Vence , where he was accepted into the circle of local artists. As a “newcomer” he enjoyed the privilege of being fully accepted in the famous St. Pauls painters' colony. Initially cubist works were created, Suppin gradually abandoned representational painting and turned to the art of "Informel", which rejected traditional forms. From then on, his path led him to abstraction.

St. Paul de Vence, 1954

First encounters, some close friendships and joint exhibitions with Picasso , Léger , Atlan, Prévert , Chagall , Fautrier, Tzara and others. a. led to getting to know the French painting tradition , which brought about a complete change in Suppin's painting. So until the end, Suppin confessed to pure color, to lines, to the impulsive. Picasso and Matisse particularly shaped Suppin and gave him the decisive impetus in turning to abstract art.

Salzburg

He stayed in France for eighteen years. Family reasons brought him back to Salzburg in 1967 . Freisaal Castle became a creative place and a new home for him. As an artistic loner, he encountered resistance in the picturesque city of Salzburg; his work was perceived as a strange import.

In the 1970s he developed a new signature of his own, he dealt with the material image, a technique with which he was a pioneer of the Austrian avant-garde. For years he dedicated himself to materials ranging from earth, sand and rocks to precious metals and textiles. At the beginning of the 80s, however, he abruptly broke with this design method because he felt that the material should not be given control over the creative spirit. First he approaches his painting colleagues Pollock and Tápies . However, he was only concerned with stages in this style development, in that he tried to express something out of the affection, try to take it up and then transfer it into his own visual language. His most important spiritual companion and close friend at this time (1983–1988) was Peter Handke . Long walks and in-depth conversations are reflected in the works of both artists. During the time of mutual friendship, Handke's film “The Mark of Death” (camera Xaver Schwarzenberger), a literary film adaptation of Marguerite Dura's book “la maladie de la mort”, was made in Suppin’s living quarters in 1986. One of his pictures, a large canvas in monochrome red, plays a central role in the background.

In his late work, Suppin is already over 80, he shows a hegemony of bright colors. Influenced by the light of the Sahara of Algeria , to which Suppin withdraws over the winter months, the artist once again becomes more independent by means of a gestural impetus and an explosion of color.

Abstract composition 1992

Abstract composition 1996

Services

Lucas Suppin was one of those artists who sought their own paths with an eternally young willingness to innovate. As little as he wanted to allow himself to be assimilated by Austria, just as little as he liked to follow the art movements that arose in Vienna, just as little was he able to pass on anything of the substance he had developed himself there. A solitaire and recognized as such by many only after a long time. His work will still find value in Austrian art history, as he made a significant contribution to the breadth of variations in modernity. So it was only logical that France had made the Austrian painter Suppin a knight of the French Legion of Honor on June 27, 1985 , a very rare distinction for foreigners.

Works

• Wald , ( Museum Carolino Augusteum , Salzburg), tempera on cardboard, signed, dated 1943, 57.5 cm × 46.5 cm
• Gaisberg near Salzburg with Hellbrunnerallee (Museum Carolino Augusteum, Salzburg), tempera on cardboard, signed, dated 1943, 45 cm × 56.5 cm
• St. Paul de Vence (les Rembards, St. Paul), oil on wood, signed, dated 1954, 110 cm × 200 cm
• Glass window and bronze door (Bürmoos funeral hall), signed, dated 1974.
• Abstract sculpture (Autohaus Schmidt, Salzburg), metal painted in red, 1980, height: 300 cm
• Abstract composition in red ( MUMOK Collection Vienna) signed, dated 1981, 195 cm × 130 cm
• Abstract composition ( Graphic Collection Albertina ), acrylic, signed, dated 15.VII 1981, 50 cm × 64.9 cm
• Strich, Kreis, Geometrie ( Donauturm , Vienna) Gouache on Maxplatte, signed, dated 1984, 400 cm × 225 cm
• Geometric compositions (Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt Salzburg) Goache on Maxplatte, signed, dated 1984, 260 cm × 220 cm
• Color compositions (vocational school III, Salzburg) Gouache on Maxplatte, signed, dated July 1984, 280 cm × 225 cm
• Thinking of Matisse , (Salzburg Administrative Senate) Acrylic on canvas, signed, dated 1990, 84 cm × 130 cm

Honors

• 1950 Prize of the Salzburg State Government
• 1973 Award of the title “Professor” by the Austrian Federal President
• 1981 Award of the "Golden Sign of Merit of the State of Salzburg"
• 1984 "Medal de l'honneur de la ville de Reims"
• 1985 François Mitterrand awards Suppin the order of a Knight of the Legion of Honor ("Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur")
• 1986 Award of the "Honorary Cup of the State of Salzburg"
• 1991 Awarded the "Ring of the City of Salzburg"
• 1991 "Cross of Honor for Science and Art" of the Republic of Austria

Dedications, letters

• "Carl Orff", letter dated June 27, 1965.
• "Elisabeth Taylor", letter from April 1968.
• “Jacques Préverts”, dedication 1975.
• “Michel Tapié de Celeyran”, foreword to the exhibition on October 22nd, 1976 in the Palais du Tau in Reims, as well as dedication, Paris 1976
• "Peter Handke", for Lucas - the city center and the edge , May 7, 1985.

Exhibitions

Summary of the most important exhibitions

• 1953 Personal exhibition at Galerie Valentin, Nice.
• 1954 group exhibition in Vallauris, "Picasso and 25 painters".
• 1954 Participation in the exhibition "Art Liturgique" in Paris with Matisse and Rouault.
• 1956 Exhibition "Les peintres de la Côte d´Azur", with Picasso, Chagall, Miro, Atlan and others, Galerie Matarasso, Nice.
• 1956 Personal exhibition at the Matarasso Gallery, Nice.
• 1957 Exhibition “Les peintres de St. Paul et ses amis” with Picasso, Poliakoff, Prévert and others in the Matarasso Gallery, Nice.
• 1957 Personal exhibition at Galerie de France, Nice.
• 1958 Equipment for the flower show as part of the world exhibition in Brussels.
• 1960 Personal exhibition, Kunstverein Salzburg in the residence.
• 1964 Exhibition at the Méditerranée Gallery, Cannes and the Stadler Gallery, Paris.
• 1965 Personal exhibition at TAO Gallery, Palais Palffy, Vienna.
• 1966 Exhibition at the Bayreuth Festival.
• 1972 Personal exhibition at TAO Gallery, Vienna and at Bräckerbohm, Cologne.
• 1974 Personal exhibition at Maison Collette Bovy, Liège and at Bräckerbohm, Cologne.
• 1975 Personal exhibition in the Trakl House in Salzburg.
• 1976 Personal exhibition at Galerie Cyrus, Paris and at the Palais du Tau, Reims
• 1977 Personal exhibition in Palais Lobkowitz, Vienna
• 1982 Personal exhibition in the "Gallery in the State Opera", Vienna,
• 1983 Personal exhibition in Arles as part of the event “10 days in Austria in Arles”.
• 1985 Participation in the exhibition "Center International d'Art Contemporain" CIAC in Paris.
• 1990 Personal exhibition at the French cultural institute "En pensant à Matisse", Palais-Clam-Gallas, Vienna.
• 1991 anniversary exhibition for the 80th birthday in the Weihergut Gallery, Salzburg.
• 1993 Personal exhibition at the Porcia Castle Gallery, Spittal ad Drau.
• 1996 Personal exhibition “Works on Paper”, Weihergut Gallery, Salzburg.

• 2008 Work exhibition on the 10th year of death, February 29 - June 22, 2008, Salzburg Museum in the New Residence, Mozartplatz 1, 5010 Salzburg.
• 2008 Exhibition on the occasion of the 10th year of death, February 15 - April 12, 2008, Galerie Weihergut, Linzergasse 25, 5020 Salzburg.

literature

• Erich Marx, Peter Laub (eds.): Lucas Suppin 1991–1998. (Monographic series on Salzburg art, vol. 32). Monograph. Salzburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-900088-22-4 .
• Jacques Prévert. Oeuvres Completes. Volume II, Edition Gallimard, 1992, ISBN 0-7859-0965-6 , p. 555.
• Karl Heinz Ritschel: Salzburg miniatures 3. Otto Müller Verlag, Salzburg, 2004, ISBN 3-7013-1086-6 .
• Salzburger Nachrichten: In memory of the painter Lucas Suppin. March 3, 1998.
• Salzburger Nachrichten: Lucas Suppin. October 3, 1998.
• Hannelore Penetsdorfer: Lucas Suppin, a Salzburg painter looking for new ways. Diploma thesis for obtaining the master’s degree at the Faculty of Culture and Social Sciences of the University of Salzburg, Department of Art, Music and Dance Studies, January 2005.

Web links

• Homepage of Lucas Suppin
• Literature by and about Lucas Suppin in the catalog of the German National Library