Paul Bedra

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Paul Bedra , actually Paul Beckmann (born April 9, 1912 in Berlin ; † May 17, 1998 in Düsseldorf ), was a German painter , sculptor and printmaker .

Life

Paul Bedra was born in Berlin on April 9, 1912 . The father died on the Eastern Front in 1914 . In 1919 he moved to Hamburg with his mother .

Bedra was artistically influenced early on by his older brother Hannes Beckmann , who studied at the Bauhaus in Dessau , as well as by meeting Wassily Kandinsky in Dessau in 1930 and with Fernand Léger in Paris in 1932 .

Bedra studied art and art history in Hamburg and Berlin from 1932 to 1938. In 1939 he moved to Düsseldorf and worked there from 1945 to 1977 as an art teacher at the Benrath Schlossgymnasium. One of his students was Karl-Heinrich Müller , who founded the Museum Insel Hombroich in 1982 . According to him, Bedra was "laying the foundations for the Museum Island because, as a teacher ... he aroused an interest in the visual arts for me that was otherwise no breeding ground ..."

The first publication of works took place in 1947 by Otto Pankok in his book "Deutsche Holzschneider", the first exhibition in the same year at the artists' association Malkasten in Düsseldorf. This was followed by regular solo or group exhibitions in museums, etc. a. Kunsthalle Düsseldorf , Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal, Clemens-Sels-Museum Neuss, Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College ( Hanover (New Hampshire) , USA), Museum of Contemporary Art in São Paulo (Brazil) as well as in galleries in In - and abroad (Japan, Israel, Switzerland, France, USA, Brazil). In 1963 Bedra took part in a traveling exhibition through the USA (together with Joseph Beuys , Rolf Sackenheim and others).

Bedra was a member of the Rhenish Secession , the Malkasten Artists 'Association and the West German Artists' Association , he maintained contacts with the ZERO group and the 53 group , Otto Pankok , Carl Josef Barth , Heinz May , Fathwinter , Gerhard Marcks and others.

In his later years, Bedra also wrote prose and poetry that spoke of his philosophical spirit and sense of humor.

Bedra married Ria Otto in Düsseldorf and the couple had a son. Paul Bedra died on May 17, 1998 in Düsseldorf.

Artistic work

Paul Bedra: OT, color etching, 1997.

After figurative beginnings with drawings, woodcuts and oil paintings, Bedra turned to more abstract forms of representation in the 1950s. Later he also worked as a sculptor and sculptor , especially with wood. Since the 1960s, he has been particularly concerned with printmaking , since 1974 in his own printing workshop. Here Bedra created and used numerous technical innovations and mixed forms (material, spatula, stencil printing / oil , watercolor or felt pen over etching, etc.). Inspired on the one hand by the intense experience of nature and on the other hand by the motifs and ideas of East Asian art and calligraphy , he developed an intensity and variety of artistic expression that is unparalleled in Germany. He has been compared to Mark Tobey again and again in publications and awards .

Works by Paul Bedra can be found among others. a. at the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf , Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf , Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen, Museum Baden Solingen and Hopkins Center Art Museum. The extensive artistic estate is now in the Moyland Castle Museum .

Publications about and by Paul Bedra (selection)

  • Otto Pankok: German wood cutter . Drei Eulen Verlag, Düsseldorf 1947.
  • Kürschner's graphic manual. Walter de Gruyter publishing house, Berlin 1959.
  • Paul Bedra: Graphics . Central printing company Wust, Düsseldorf 1978.
  • Kurt Mautner (ed.): Paul Bedra: Grafische Miniatures . Hoch-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1982.
  • Daniel Hees (Ed.): Paul Bedra color graphics . Watercolor publishing house, Lauda-Königshofen 1990.
  • Ralf Busch (Ed.): Paul Bedra & A.-GB Cohrs . Dingwort-Verlag, Hamburg 1990.
  • Paul Bedra: MT - A bittersweet life . RG Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt 1994.
  • Paul Bedra: Happiness is forbidden . Fouqué Literaturverlag, Egelsbach / Frankfurt 1997.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ quoted from: Olaf Cless: Nothing is lost. In: Düsseldorfer Hefte. 7/1998.
  2. ^ Otto Pankok: German wood cutter. Drei Eulen-Verlag , Düsseldorf 1947.
personal data
SURNAME Bedra, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beckmann, Paul (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, sculptor and printmaker
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH May 17, 1998
Place of death Dusseldorf