Walter Gondolf

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Walter Gondolf (born June 19, 1912 in Düsseldorf , † August 14, 1989 in Lintorf near Düsseldorf) was a German set designer and painter.

  • Walter Gondolf, 1930s

  • Walter Gondolf, 1960s

  • "We got away with it again," 1946

  • "Salome", 1950

  • "The clever little fox", 1954

  • "The happy hand", 1955

  • "As soon as five years go by", 1956

  • "Blood Wedding", 1957

  • "Orpheus and Eurydice", 1959

  • Landscape without a year

  • Outskirts, without a year

life and work

After a broken apprenticeship as a confectioner, he became a theater painter. From 1933 to 1936 Gondolf studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Walter von Wecus . In 1937 he got his first engagement in Neuss, then in Hanau, Oberhausen and Fürth. After the war he became one of the most sought-after stage designers in the young Federal Republic, he worked in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Bochum, among others with the directors Gustaf Gründgens , Hans Schalla , Herbert Maisch , Erich Bormann and Hans Bauer . In 1960 Walter Gondolf moved to Hanover, working partners there included the directors Peter Zadek , Kurt Ehrhardt and Karl Paryla , the opera directors Reinhard Lehmann, Vaclav Kaslik, Günther Roth, Steffen Tiggeler and the choreographer Yvonne Georgi . He worked as a guest in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Saarbrücken and Stockholm. Walter Gondolf has outfitted over 500 productions in 40 years of work, mostly he also designed the costumes.

Walter Gondolf's stage spaces are often sparse and functional. The atmosphere is created by light, projections and a few three-dimensional details. In addition to working for the theater, he worked as a freelance painter. The Lower Rhine landscape and city (edge) views are frequent motifs. Abstract works and collages were added later. Towards the end of his life he also dealt with religious topics. He designed a way of the cross for the St. John's Church in Lintorf.

Walter Gondolf was an honorary member of the Cologne City Theater .

Over 180 designs by Walter Gondolf are in the theater studies collections of the University of Cologne, smaller holdings are in the theater museums in Düsseldorf and Hanover.

Selection of works

  • Cologne 1946, Wilder “We got away with it again”, director: Hans Schalla
  • Düsseldorf 1948, Chekhov "The Seagull", directed by Gustaf Gründgens
  • Cologne 1950, Strauss “Salome”, director: Herbert Maisch
  • Cologne 1954, Janáček "The clever little fox"
  • Cologne 1955, Schönberg “The happy hand”, director: Erich Bormann
  • Cologne 1956, Lorca “As soon as five years pass”, director: Hans Bauer
  • Cologne 1957, Fortner “Die Bluthochzeit”, world premiere, director: Erich Bormann
  • Cologne 1958, Vauthier “Kapitän Bada”, director: Peter Zadek, Zadek's first directorial work in Germany
  • Berlin 1959, Kálmán “Die Csárdásfürstin”, director: Wolf Völker, as part of the festival weeks in the Deutschlandhalle
  • Cologne 1960, Gluck "Orpheus and Eurydike" Director: Erich Bormann
  • Hanover 1960, Lorca “Dona Rosita stays single”, director: Hans Bauer
  • Hanover 1962, Shakespeare "Cymbeline", director: Peter Zadek
  • Hanover 1964, Humperdinck “Hänsel und Gretel”, director: Steffen Tiggeler, this production is still on the program today (2015)
  • Bochum 1965, Shakespeare “Was ihr wollt”, director: Hans Schalla, invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen
  • Hanover 1967, Janáček "Katja Kabanowa", director: Vaclav Kaslik
  • Hanover 1973, Büchner “Dantons Tod”, director: Karl Paryla
  • Stockholm 1974, Tchaikovsky “Pique Dame”, directed by Vaclav Kaslik

literature

  • The Lintorfer Kreuzweg. Verlag Alfred Preuss, 1992, ISBN 3-927826-36-7 .
  • Sylvia Görke: Gondolf, Walter . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 58, Saur, Munich a. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-598-22798-1 , p. 115.
  • Gondolf, Walter . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 5 : V-Z. Supplements: A-G . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1961, p. 530 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gondolf, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German stage designer and painter
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1989
Place of death Lintorf near Düsseldorf