Otto Lehmann (painter)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto Lehmann (born June 17, 1943 in Solothurn , Switzerland ) is a Swiss draftsman and painter .

life and work

1958–1963 Lehmann trained as a graphic artist in Solothurn. This was followed by a visit to the arts and crafts school in Bern. Until 1981 Lehmann worked as a commercial artist.

Otto Lehmann's professional artistic activity as a draftsman and painter began in the mid-1970s. In the context of the so-called “Central Switzerland inwardness”, he dealt with geometric shapes and archaic, symbolic symbols such as snake, woman, triangle, grid, spiral. In the second half of the 1970s, he limited himself to pencil drawings as well as the human figure and human-animal hybrid beings, which are shown as isolated archetypal figures in existential situations. (A) He radicalized the expression and content of his works. In 1980 the collaboration with the Jörg Stummer gallery in Zurich began in a first exhibition. In this exhibition, Lehmann showed works that expressed themselves through an emotionally charged figuration and a physically violent gesture of drawing with a pencil. In the context of the then current neo-expressive, wild figurative painting, these works led to national recognition of Lehmann. At the invitation of André Kamber in 1982 an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, together with Aldo Solari and Anselm Stalder , showed blackboard drawings (oil pastel chalk on black primed plywood and wood fiber boards) and brush drawings. From 1983 onwards he created acrylic paintings with aggressive scenes and eerie still life arrangements.

From the mid-1980s to the beginning of the 1990s, he created pictures with abstract spatial structures. Although, like the figurative motifs, they were still to be understood as projections of one's own and social sensitivities, the painting process in these works became increasingly important in relation to the threatening contentual dimension. Lucy Grossmann showed works from this phase in 1988 at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau in the Kartause Ittingen . (B) In the same year the exhibition was also in the Roberto Medici Gallery in Solothurn. The group of works culminated in paintings with stripes and ribbons in 1994, shown in two group exhibitions curated by Nicolas Raboud; 1997 in the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Friborg and in 1999 in the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Sion, under the title “Saxifrage, le désespoir-du-peintre”, La tendance expressive dans la peinture suisse contemporaire.

[As a result, Lehmann reduced the formal spectrum in favor of experiments with a wide variety of drawing and painting materials and techniques (ballpoint pen, Indian ink, rollerball, pearl acrylic). (C) What connects these works with the works of the 1980s is the physical intensity of the creation process and the avoidance of pleasing aesthetics. In 2001 Christoph Vögele again showed large-format ballpoint pen drawings and ink paintings as well as an installation with monochrome pencil drawings in the Solothurn Art Museum. After a phase of aggressive geometric forms that were set with a pencil on monochrome acrylic backgrounds, Lehmann turned to painting again.

From 2007 onwards he created pictures with objects that were reduced in character, often of an architectural character (D), and later non-representational paintings with amorphous color gradients and abstract pencil drawings. Then he drew with an ink brush like woodcut, striking large format on roll paper. Works with the titles “The Three Graces” and “The Three Norns” were created. (E) In 2014 he won the public competition for art in buildings in the Solothurn correctional facility in collaboration with his wife Kristin Lehmann. The jury was impressed by the consistency of the subject “Ariadne's ball of wool”. Five wall drawings were created, cut into exposed concrete and filled with epoxy resin, a symbol for the unwound thread of the tangle of Ariadne and three objects in the inaccessible light wells between the cell corridors. These objects are also made of red epoxy resin and represent the balls of wool. A brochure with the title "Art in prison" was published for the work.

Since the beginning of 2015 Lehmann has been working on drawings under the title “ Noli me tangere ”. (F) In these colored pencil drawings, OL deals with the subject of beauty in nature. He is interested in photographs of viruses and bacteria. The enigmatic nature of the beautiful pictures, to capture their ambiguity with the insidious side in constantly new graphic representations, attracts him.

  • (A) Pencil drawing on Ingres handmade paper, 1980

  • (B) Acrylic painting on cotton cloth 1985, Collection Kunst (Zeug) Haus Rapperswil-Jona

  • (C) Acrylic painting on cotton cloth 1987 Collection Kunstmuseum Solothurn

  • (D) Ink drawing on paper, 1999, Collection Kunstmuseum Solothurn

  • (E) Acrylic painting on Ingres handmade paper, 2008, Collection Kunstmuseum Olten

  • (F) Acrylic painting on cotton cloth, 2012, private collection

  • (G) Color pencil drawing on paper, 2015, W-Borrer-Stifrtung. Solothurn Art Museum

Awards

  • 1976: Federal Art Scholarship
  • 1982: Federal grant for free art
  • 1989: Joseph-Ebinger Memorial Prize Lucerne, on the occasion of the annual exhibition in the Lucerne Art Museum
  • 1990: Prize for painting from the Canton of Solothurn
  • 1992: Jury Prize for the annual exhibition of artists from Central Switzerland, Lucerne Art Museum
  • 1994: Recognition award from the city of Lucerne

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • 1983: Gersag Community Gallery Emmenbrücke
  • 1988: Medici Gallery, Solothurn
  • 1988: Art Museum of the Canton of Thurgau. Ittingen Charterhouse
  • 1989/1989/1991: Galerie Seywald Salzburg
  • 1990/1987: Galerie Prosart Luzern
  • 1991/1986/1984: Galerie Thomas Flora Innsbruck
  • 1993: Galerie Bea Mitschjeta St. Gallen
  • 1994/1991/1989/1989/1986/1984/1982/1980: Galerie Jörg Stummer Zurich
  • 1994: Scheuermann Collection, Cologne
  • 1994: Kunstraum Burgdorf, with René Zäch
  • 1996/1993/1989: Galerie Patrik Fröhlich Bern
  • 1997: Scheuermann Collection, Cologne, with Michael Lehmann
  • 1997/1991: Kunstraum Burgdorf
  • 2001/1995: Art Museum Solothurn
  • 2002/1994: Galerie Hofmatt Sarnen
  • 2003/2001: Galerie Patrik Fröhlich Zurich
  • 2004: Galerie Quellgasse Biel
  • 2009/2003: Galerie Rössli Balsthal
  • 2009/2007: Galerie Pia-Anna Borner Lucerne
  • 2011/2008: Brigitta Rosenberg Gallery Zurich
  • 2012/1993/1979/1976: Friday Gallery Imhof Solothurn
  • 2016: M1 / ​​Museum 1 Adligenswil
  • 2016: oT room for contemporary art Lucerne
  • 2018: Richas Digest Cologne
  • 2019/2017: Galerie Müller Luzern
  • 2019: Art Museum Solothurn

Group exhibitions

  • 1978: Musée Rath Genève, 1st Quadrennial of Swiss Drawing
  • 1980: Musée cantonal des beaux-arts de Lausanne , "Les musées suisses collectionnent l'art actuel en Suisse"
  • 1980: Kunsthaus Zürich , "Swiss museums collect current Swiss art"
  • 1981: Galeria Nacional de Arte Moderna Lisboa, "LIS 81 International Show"
  • 1981: Lucerne Art Museum , “The House of Man”, figurative / figurative. An aspect of contemporary art within Switzerland
  • 1981: Kunstmuseum Olten , "Solothurn Contemporary Art"
  • 1982: Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, "New Art from Schaffhausen Collections"
  • 1982: Solothurn Art Museum with Aldo Solari and Anselm Stalder
  • 1991: Art Museum Solothurn, "The Newer Collection"
  • 1992: Galerie Bob van Orsouw Zurich, "366 drawings"
  • 1992: Kunstmuseum Solothurn, "Changed constellation in the collection exhibition"
  • 1993: Kunstmuseum Olten, "Collection expansion 1983–1992"
  • 1994: Cantonal cultural center Palais Besenval . Solothurn, “Outside Worlds - Inner Worlds”. Landscapes in Contemporary Art
  • 1997: Art Museum Solothurn, "Das Kamberorchester"
  • 1997: Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts Friborg, “Saxifrage, le désespoir-du-peintre”, La tendance expressive dans la peinture suisse contemporain
  • 1999: Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts Sion, "Saxifrage, le désespoir-du-peintre"
  • 2000: Sharjah Arts Museum Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • 2004: Art Museum Solothurn, "Of People and Animals"
  • 2004: Kunstmuseum Solothurn, “True joy is a serious matter”, purchases and donations from 1998 to 2003
  • 2005: IG Halle Art Experiment Discourse, Alte Fabrik, Rapperswil "langläufer-collection bosshard 2"
  • 2005: Art Museum Solothurn, "Places". Works of the art museum in dialogue
  • 2005: The Sharjah Art Museum Sharjah, UAE United Arab Emirates, "The Artcard"
  • 2007: Solothurn Art Museum "Head in the Cube" Constructions and constructions from the graphic collection of the Solothurn Art Museum
  • 2008: Art (stuff) House Rapperswil "staying power - Swiss art 1978 to 2008 from the Peter and Elisabeth Bosshard collection"
  • 2012: Kunstmuseum Olten ... like the shadow the light ...
  • 2013: Kunstmuseum Olten, BABEL. There's a heaven above you!
  • 2013: Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Pas- (de) -deux. Painting and drawing in dialogue
  • 2014: Kunstmuseum Olten, works in our new collection
  • 2014: Kunstmuseum Solothurn, “Hitzewelle” new acquisitions 2004–2014
  • 2015: Gallery ArtQ13. Rome. Anonymous draftsman
  • 2015: Galerie Geyson20. Braunschweig / FRG. Anonymous draftsman
  • 2015: Galerie Nord / Kunstverein Tiergarten Berlin. Anonymous draftsman
  • 2016: Rosenberg Gallery Zurich. "Drawings"
  • 2016: Art Association Rüsselsheim / BRD. Anonymous draftsman
  • 2017: Art Museum Solothurn. «La Brocca Nera» aspects of the collection of the Kunstverein Solothurn
  • 2018: KunstZeugHaus Rapperswil-Jona. «Alphabet of the collection»
  • 2020: Kunstraum Baden / CH. "TOUCH ME I'M SICK - Art looks at disease"

bibliography

  • 1982: Art Museum Solothurn «Otto Lehmann. Anselm Stalder, Aldo Solari », texts by André Kamber, library SIK A3-8413
  • 1983: Galerie Gersag, Emmenbrücke «Otto Lehmann. Blackboard drawings 1980-1982 », texts by Martin Kraft, SIK Library A1-8090
  • 1984: Galerie Bloch, Innsbruck "Otto Lehmann" Galerie Bloch, Innsbruck, texts by Esther Bättig, library SIK A1-8211
  • 1984: Galerie Stummer, Zurich «Otto Lehmann. Pictures 1983/84 », texts by Peter Killer, library SIK A1-8683
  • 1986: Issue 1 «Otto Lehmann. Between space », texts by Dieter Bitterli, Michael Lehmann and Walter Lüssi, library SIK B3-12108: 1
  • 1988: Kunstraum Medici, Solothurn / Kartause Ittingen, Art Museum of the Canton Thurgau «Otto Lehmann», texts by Elisabeth Grossmann, library SIK A2 - 13832
  • 1989: Jörg Stummer Gallery, Zurich «Otto Lehmann. Making the darkness visible », texts by Elisabeth Grossmann, library SIK A1-10709
  • 1990: Issue 2 «Otto Lehmann. Interior », texts by Sabine Altdorfer and Koni Bitterli, library SIK B3-12108: 2
  • 1994: Issue 3 «Otto Lehmann. Lost in space », texts by Konrad Bitterli, SIK library B3-12108: 3
  • 1994: Issue 4 «Otto Lehmann. Painting between the autonomy of the pictorial means and the representation of the pictorial signs », texts by Philip Pocock and Michael Lehmann, Library SIK B3-12108: 4
  • 1998: Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Art, Ed .: Switzerland. Institute for Art Research, Zurich and Lausanne, text by Martin Kraft
  • 2001: Art Museum Solothurn «Otto Lehmann», texts: Franz Müller and Christoph Vögele, library SIK A2-17661
  • 2005: Museums in Switzerland. Art Museum Solothurn, publisher: BNP Paribas Switzerland Foundation in collaboration with the Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich and Lausanne
  • 2011: Otto Lehmann, “Pictures of a journey in your head”, text: Roswitha Schild in KunstBulletin 5/2011
  • 2014: De Gruyter. General artist lexicon. "The visual artists of all times and peoples". Volume 83, 2014. Text by Franz Müller
  • 2015: Roswitha Schild: Minotaurus and Ariadne at the southern foot of the Jura, in: Otto and Kristin Lehmann (ed.): KUNST IM KNAST (Issue 5), Solothurn correctional facility, self-published, Adligenswil
  • 2017: Exhibition cat. FROM ANSELM TO ZILLA The Peter and Elisabeth Bosshard Collection of the Kunst (Zeug) Haus Foundation. Rapperswil Jona. Text by Suzanne Kappele. Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich
  • 2019 exhibition cat. Otto Lehmann Noli me tangere, Art Museum Solothurn Switzerland, with texts by Alice Henkes and Christoph Vögele, Verlag für modern art, Vienna

literature

  • Art Museum Solothurn "Otto Lehmann" 2019, Noli me tangere, with texts by Alice Henkes and Christoph Vögele, Verlag für modern art, Vienna
  • De Gruyter. General artist lexicon. The visual artists of all times and peoples. Volume 83, 2014. Text by Franz Müller
  • Solothurn Art Museum «Otto Lehmann», 2001 with texts by Franz Müller and Christoph Vögele, library SIK A2-17661

Web links

Commons : Otto Lehmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Kraft: Lehmann, Otto. In: Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Art. 1998, Vol. LZ, p. 619.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Franz Müller: Lehmann, Otto. In: De Gruyter, General Artist Lexicon. 2015, vol. 83, p. 520.
  3. ↑ Hanspeter Rederlechner: Otto Lehmann. In: Exhibition catalog Galerie Jörg Stummer. 1980.
  4. ^ André Kamber: Lehmann, Stalder, Solari. In: Exhibition catalog Kunstmuseum Solothurn. 1982, p. 34.
  5. ^ Elisabeth Grossmann: Otto Lehmann. Nameless place. In: Exhibition catalog Galerie Medici, Solothurn and Art Museum of the Canton of Thurgau. Ittingen Charterhouse, 1988.
  6. ^ Nicolas Raboud: saxifrage. Exhibition catalog Musée Cantonal des Beaux-arts in Friborg and Musée Cantonal des Beaux-arts in Sion, 1997 and 1999, pp. 42f and 81.
  7. ↑ Christoph Vögele: On the meaning of the line in the work of Otto Lehmann. In: Exhibition catalog Kunstmuseum Solothurn. 2001, p. 5.
  8. ^ Franz Müller: The new ink drawings by Otto Lehmann. In: Exhibition catalog Kunstmuseum Solothurn. 2001, pp. 9-13.
  9. ↑ Otto and Kristin Lehmann: Art in prison. 2015, ISBN 978-3-033-04910-9
  10. ↑ work. In: ottolehmann.ch. Retrieved March 8, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Awards. In: ottolehmann.ch. Retrieved March 8, 2016 .
  12. ↑ exhibitions. In: ottolehmann.ch. Retrieved March 8, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Bibliography. In: ottolehmann.ch. Retrieved March 8, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Lehmann, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss draftsman and painter
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Solothurn , Switzerland