Walter Opitz

Walter Opitz (born June 14, 1929 in Liebersdorf / Silesia ; † 2003 in Halle (Saale) ) was a German painter , graphic artist and type artist .

Life

From 1943 Opitz completed an apprenticeship as a theater painter in Dessau , where he worked as a poster painter from 1947 to 1952 . From 1952 he worked as a graphic designer in Halle and Berlin. In addition to his job, he continued his education through self-financed private studies with the university drawing teacher Otto Fischer-Lamberg . He belonged to the Association of Visual Artists. In 1961 he took part in the art exhibition in Magdeburg for the first time, and in 1963 in Berlin. Since the mid-1960s, he worked as a freelance commercial artist , set designer and scenographer for East German television in Berlin. He made his first study trips to the Soviet Union / Ukraine, Finland, Austria, France, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Since 1971 he has been involved in all district exhibitions in Halle / Saale with painting and graphics and from 1972 represented with works in the art exhibition of the GDR in Dresden. From 1973 he created his first work in flat glass design. He created other works of art made of flat glass, including in 1976 for the twin cities Linz (Austria) and Oulu (Finland), as well as for the Institute for Geological Research and Exploration in Halle, where 20 glass pictures were created in an ensemble. In 1975 he traveled through Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan as part of a study tour.

In 1981 he took part in a solo exhibition at the Academy of Sciences in Halle / Saale. In 1982 he took part in the Moscow International Poster Competition, where he was awarded a gold medal. In 1984 he went on a study tour of several weeks through Turkmenia, Tajikistan, Krgizien and Kazakhstan. Returning from Central Asia, he was honored with a retrospective in Berlin and Buna. In 1987 he traveled to Riga for a work stay and opened a painting exhibition there. In 1989 he went on a study trip to Mongolia and in 1990 his first retrospective took place in Austria. From 1991 he devoted himself to the interior design of churches in Western Europe and the Halle Opera House.

He died in 2003 in his hometown of Halle.

Ulrich Knispel , Charles Crodel and Kurt Bunge had a decisive influence on the artistic work of Walter Opitz . Not only they, but also other teachers, brought the urge for provocation and progress to Halle and significantly influenced all other courses. Even system-relevant attempts at repression in the 1930s and after 1949 in the GDR could not fundamentally change this.

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Opitz's art is characterized by a great technical and artistic diversity. City views, details of nature, portraits, groups of people and nudes are among his subjects . His ability as a graphic artist, who sketches the architecture of Paris with quick strokes or designs illusionistic stage sets, must be taken into account as part of his oeuvre . His repertoire as a painter ranges from oil painting, watercolor and gouache to acrylic and chalk work and is stylistically broad. One recognizes in the early works “Odysseus” or “Fighting” the closeness to the early Picasso , who is currently discovering the archaic as a fresh source of inspiration. Most of the other paintings testify to a confrontation with the art of symbolism (“Life in Blue”), but especially late Impressionism and Expressionism and in some cases with the New Objectivity (“masked ball chimeras”). While the various nuances of natural tones predominate in the nudes and excerpts of nature from the 1980s, his paintings from the 1990s display greater painterly freedom. Even if it does not become completely abstract, the contours are blurred and he neglects the line when it comes to the atmospheric. A brilliant splendor of colors in the style of Nolde , Macke or Feininger unfolds , with the blue predominating.

Beyond all official specifications or fashions, he has freely chosen color and shape in front of the object according to his feelings, as it seemed appropriate to him. This leads to a great variety in his oeuvre, which he created over four decades.

The art archive is kept by his widow Brigitte Köster-Opitz. From April 3, 2014, the artist was honored with an extensive exhibition in the Marzahn town hall in Berlin.

Exhibitions (selection)

• 1961 Participation in an art exhibition in Magdeburg
• 1963 exhibition in Berlin, art college
• 1971 Participation in the district art exhibition in Halle / Saale, painting and graphics
• 1973 Exhibition of glass design in Baku, Kazakhstan
• 1975 Participation in the GDR art exhibition in Dresden
• 1976 Exhibition and commission for glass design in Linz, Austria
• 1979 Participation in an art exhibition at the Berlin TV tower
• 1980 Exhibition and commission for glass design in Oulu, Finland
• 1980 Solo exhibition at the Academy of Sciences in Halle / Saale
• 1984 Solo exhibition: Art of Time , Leipzig
• 1985 Solo exhibition with glass works in the Galerie am Hansering
• 1986 Factory exhibition in Leuna / Buna
• 1986 Participation in the stage design exhibition at the Hansering gallery
• 1987 Participation in painting exhibition, Riga Latvia
• 1988 Watercolors , Merseburg Castle , Merseburg
• 1990 Solo exhibition in Neustadt an der Donau
• 1990/92 participation in an exhibition in the Wittauer House
• 1994/98 participation in an exhibition in the Gangolf Church in Hollfeld
• 2000 Solo exhibition in the MLU, Halle
• 2010 Solo exhibition in Bernadelli's gallery in Dessau
• 2011 participation in the exhibition of the Hallischer Kunstverein
• 2014 Solo exhibition: KOSTBARUNGEN, for OspeART in the Marzahn town hall, Berlin

literature

• Hans-Georg Sehrt: Walter Opitz, painting, watercolors, drawings. Published by Halleschen Kunstverein eV, catalog 84, Halle 2005.