Peter Herkenrath
Peter Herkenrath (born April 18, 1900 in Cologne , † November 13, 1992 in Mainz ) was a German painter. After the Second World War he was an important exponent of abstract art.
Life
Peter Herkenrath originally studied economics and law for six semesters at the University of Cologne from 1920 to 1923 . As an artist he was self-taught . In 1923 he joined his father's textile company and took over the management together with his brother in 1932.
In 1933 Peter Herkenrath had his first solo exhibition at the Kölnischer Kunstverein. War and German National Socialism interrupted his artistic work, and in 1943 his apartment and studio were destroyed by a bomb attack. In 1945 Peter Herkenrath founded the "Rheinische Künstlergemeinschaft Köln". From 1952 to 1955, Herkenrath was chairman of the "New Rhenish Secession".
At the end of the 1950s, Herkenrath withdrew from business life and devoted himself only to painting. In 1959 he was a guest at the Villa Romana in Florence , in 1961 he went to study at the Villa Massimo in Rome for a year . From 1961 to 1965 Peter Herkenrath was a professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe . In 1965 Herkenrath moved into a second residence in Cipressa in Liguria ( Italy ).
plant
The special thing about Herkenrath's painting is the independent position within the German Informel of the 1950s and 1960s. From figurative and post-cubist painting in the 1930s, he came to abstract painting in the mid-1940s. He painted pictures that he called " structures " and " wall pictures ", in which he applied thick layers of paint with spatulas and brushes in relief .
Herkenrath is also known for his portraits . He painted Theodor Heuss , Konrad Adenauer , Gustav Heinemann , Josef Haubrich , Toni Feldenkirchen , August Hoff , Theodor Wessels and Theodor Kraus, among others . He also created self-portraits , for example in the form of a triptych from 1965.
Peter Herkenrath was a member of the German Association of Artists .
Nazi looted art
In 1994, Herkenrath's heirs sold his painting "Naked" by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff , which in 1999 became the property of the Museum Neue Galerie New York via the Villa Grisebach auction house . The painting disappeared from a depot of the Kölner Kunstverein after Thekla Hess, widow of the art collector Alfred Hess , fled to London from the Nazi regime in 1939 .
Honors
- 1958: Karl Ernst Osthaus Prize of the City of Hagen (see also → West German Artists Association )
- 1959: Villa Romana Prize
- 1959: Great Art Prize of the City of Cologne
- 1974: Large Federal Cross of Merit
- 1980: Honorary membership and gold medal of the Accademia d'Italia , Arte e Lavoro, San Gimignano
- 1987: Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Important exhibitions
- 1932: Kölnischer Kunstverein , Cologne
- 1933: Cologne Art Association
- 1945: Rheinische Künstlergemeinschaft, Cologne
- 1947: Galerie Günther, Mannheim
- 1948: Studio Rasch, Wuppertal
- 1950: Cologne Art Association
- 1952: Der Spiegel gallery , Cologne / Suermondt Museum , Aachen
- 1955: Museum Schloss Morsbroich , Leverkusen
- 1958–1980: Solo exhibitions in numerous galleries and museums
- 1959: documenta 2 , Kassel
- 1980: Retrospective , Museum Ludwig , Cologne
- 1981: Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf
- 1985: Galerie Orangerie-Reinz, Cologne and Galerie Vömel
- 1990: Peter Herkenrath on his 90th birthday , overview of works, Städtische Galerie Filderhalle, Leinfelden-Echterdingen and Kölnisches Stadtmuseum / solo exhibition Galerie Vömel
- 1998 Solo exhibition in Karlsruhe EnBW with catalog
- 2000 Solo exhibition for the 100th birthday Galerie Rother, Wiesbaden and Galerie Schrade Mochental.
Works in museums and collections
- Municipal gallery Villa Zanders , Bergisch Gladbach
- Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum , Hagen
literature
- Exhibition catalog for documenta II (1959) in Kassel: II.documenta'59. Art after 1945 . Catalog: Volume 1: Painting; Volume 2: Sculpture; Volume 3: Graphic Art; Text tape. Kassel / Cologne 1959
- Catalog: Peter Herkenrath. Painting . Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne 1965
- Catalog: Peter Herkenrath. Paintings, pastels, drawings , Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne 1971
- Toni Feldenkirchen: About the Kölnischer Kunstverein and other things . Cologne 1978
- Catalog: Herkenrath, Cologne . Museum Ludwig, 1980
- Catalog: Peter Herkenrath. Facets of a life's work . Cologne, City Museum, 1990
- EnBW Energie (Ed.): Peter Herkenrath 1900–1992. Portraits. Structures. Still life . Karlsruhe 1998
Web links
- Literature by and about Peter Herkenrath in the catalog of the German National Library
- Examples of his work on artfacts.de
- Examples of his work on artax.de
- Materials by and about Peter Herkenrath in the documenta archive
Individual evidence
- ↑ The birthday of June 16, 1900 is noted in the Federal President's Office .
- ↑ kuenstlerbund.de: Full members of the German Association of Artists since it was founded in 1903 / Herkenrath, Peter ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 24, 2015)
- ^ Graham Bowley: Neue Galerie Returns Painting Seized by Nazis and Then Rebuys It in Settlement. In: New York Times, September 27, 2016, online . Also: Renée Price: New Worlds. German and Austrian Art, 1890–1940, New York 2001, p. 394
- ↑ Office of the Federal President
- ↑ Merit holders since 1986. State Chancellery of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on March 11, 2017 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Herkenrath, Peter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 18, 1900 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cologne |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 13, 1992 |
| Place of death | Mainz |