Thomas Meier-Castel

Thomas Meier-Castel (born December 20, 1949 in Blieskastel , Saarland , † September 23, 2008 ) was a German painter and graphic artist .

Life

Thomas Meier-Castel

Thomas Meier-Castel was born in Blieskastel as one of five children of Wilhelm Meier (toolmaker and engine driver) and Cäcilia Meier (née Müller, medical technology assistant).

From 1968 he traveled to Paris , London , Rome and Florence and between 1973 and 1976 studied classic etching processes in printmaking with Anian W. Steinert (Karlsruhe) and free drawing with Professor Epple in Heidelberg.

Until 1982 he worked in his studio in Blieskastel.

From 1982 he lived and worked with his wife, the artist Ute Gortner, in a joint studio in Bexbach and began to experiment with large-format techniques ( engraving lineaments on two square meter metal plates). This is where the first large etchings (200 × 100 cm) were made in 1985 , which one year later led to the desired printing results with a rotogravure press for oversized formats developed by Erich Holzer .

1986 Meier-Castel won the Art Prize Graphics in Ludwigshafen (1st Prize) 1987 the Perron Art Prize Graphics of the City of Frankenthal (2nd Prize).

Thomas Meier-Castel and Ute Gortner moved to Lorraine in 1989 . From here, Meier-Castel undertook numerous trips where he worked on two square meter copper etching plates with 'on-site conceptions' in important places. For example, etchings were made in November 1989 two days before the opening of the Brandenburg Gate , or the Morning Oil - Midnight Oil series in 1998 in the Leuna Works .

In 2007 he won the Felix Hollenberg Prize for Prints from the Städtische Galerie Albstadt.

In 2008 Thomas Meier-Castel died after a short, serious illness.

Works (selection)

Berlin-Marseilles, drypoint from the Speedways 2000 series, 6 parts, 1/1, 424 × 305 cm
Midnight Oil - drypoint 1998, 2 parts, 1/1, 226 × 208 cm
Fleurs du mal - drypoint 2004 6 parts, 1/1, 425 × 307.5 cm
Seismographics - drypoint 2000, 6 parts 420 × 320 cm, 1/1
Light Lines VII - drypoint 2006, 3-part, 1/1, 225 × 308 cm
Exhibition 2018 Modern Gallery, Saarland Museum Saarbrücken
Exhibition 2018 Modern Gallery, Saarland Museum Saarbrücken

Quotes

"I have to penetrate the matter and impose my sensitivity on it" Thomas Meier-Castel

reception

"Thomas Meier-Castel was an exceptional artist, because he devoted himself entirely to printmaking and conquered this often underestimated genre in new forms and new spaces - figuratively as well as literally. His medium was etching, more precisely: drypoint , and he increased it to an intensity and formats that were previously unadjustable. " (Roland Möning Director of the Saarland Museum - Modern Gallery Saarbrücken, Catalog Thomas Meier-Castel Large Etchings, ISBN 978-3-932036-92-7 )

"It is unusual for an artist, looking for an expression that corresponds to the time and life today, to dedicate himself so directly to a medium predefined by the tradition of 400 years - drypoint and reinterpret it in a contemporary way. Thomas Meier-Castel one of the most radical positions in printmaking. " (Beate Reutter, 2008 for the award ceremony of the Felix Hollenberg Prize)

Exhibitions (selection)

1992 Musee d´Art Contemporain, German Foundation Belmont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland
1993 Musée d´Art Contemporain, German Foundation "artistes de la collection", Belmont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland
1995 Musée Barrois, Bar-le-Duc, France
1997 Museum Folkwang, Essen
1998 Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg "Thomas Meier-Castel - Expansions"
1998 Ludwig Museum in the Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz "Thomas Meier-Castel - Giant Prints"
2001/02 State Gallery Stuttgart "Thomas Meier-Castel - Etching Pure"
2004 Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern "Thomas Meier-Castel - Liaison with black. Large etchings 1990–2004"
2008 Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe: "Play of forces - drawing and graphics by Thomas Meier-Castel"
2008/09 Municipal Gallery Albstadt
2011 Saarland artist house
2018 Modern Gallery, Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken
2018 Chemnitz Art Collections "Thomas Meier-Castel - Large Etchings"
2019 Saarländische Galerie Berlin "Thomas Meier-Castel - Large Etchings / Giant Prints"
2020 Galerie Z - Landau (June 9th, 2020 to August 29th, 2020)

Works in museums and public collections

Musee Barrois, Bar-le-Duc, France
Musée Deutsch, Belmont-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland
Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
Art collections of the Feste Coburg, Coburg
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Kupferstichkabinett
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
Folkwang Museum, Essen
Moritzburg Foundation, Art Museum of the State of Saxony-Anhalt Halle
Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern
State Art Gallery, Karlsruhe
Ludwig Museum, Koblenz
Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig
Civca Raccolta delle Stampe Achille Bertarelli, Castello Sforzesco, Milan
State Museum Mainz
State Graphic Collection Munich
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
State Gallery Stuttgart

Individual evidence

^ Ute Gortner: Ute Gortner's website / gallery. Retrieved on June 25, 2020 (German).
↑ Thomas Meier-Castel. Felix Hollenberg Prize on albstadt.de
↑ The owner and rights holder of the pictures is Ms. Ute Gortner (widow of Thomas Meier-Castel), who made these pictures available for Wikipedia.
^ Schäfer, Dorit., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe .: Play of forces: drawings and graphics by Thomas Meier-Castel = Interplay of energies: drawings and prints by Thomas Meier-Castel . Ed .: State Art Gallery Karlsruhe. Braus, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-925212-72-7 , page 26 ( dnb.de [accessed on May 23, 2019]).
↑ Mönig, Roland, Gocke, Juliana, Stocker, Mona, Saarland Museum: Thomas Meier-Castel - Large etchings . Saarland Cultural Heritage Foundation Saarland Museum , Saarbrücken 2018, ISBN 978-3-932036-92-7 , foreword, page 12 ( spk-berlin.de [accessed May 23, 2019]).

↑ Beate Reutter: Felix Hollenberg Prize 2008. In: www.albstadt.de/staedtische-galerie. Staedtische Galerie Albstadt, October 15, 2008, accessed on May 23, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	Meier-Castel, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH	December 20, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH	Blieskastel , Saarland
DATE OF DEATH	September 23, 2008

[1] Ute Gortner: Ute Gortner's website / gallery. Retrieved on June 25, 2020 (German).

[2] Thomas Meier-Castel. Felix Hollenberg Prize on albstadt.de

[3] The owner and rights holder of the pictures is Ms. Ute Gortner (widow of Thomas Meier-Castel), who made these pictures available for Wikipedia.

[4] Schäfer, Dorit., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe .: Play of forces: drawings and graphics by Thomas Meier-Castel = Interplay of energies: drawings and prints by Thomas Meier-Castel . Ed .: State Art Gallery Karlsruhe. Braus, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-925212-72-7 , page 26 ( dnb.de [accessed on May 23, 2019]).

[5] Mönig, Roland, Gocke, Juliana, Stocker, Mona, Saarland Museum: Thomas Meier-Castel - Large etchings . Saarland Cultural Heritage Foundation Saarland Museum , Saarbrücken 2018, ISBN 978-3-932036-92-7 , foreword, page 12 ( spk-berlin.de [accessed May 23, 2019]).

[6] Beate Reutter: Felix Hollenberg Prize 2008. In: www.albstadt.de/staedtische-galerie. Staedtische Galerie Albstadt, October 15, 2008, accessed on May 23, 2019 .