Werner-Viktor Toeffling

Werner-Viktor Toeffling (born March 14, 1912 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf ; † November 26, 2001 in Berlin-Schlachtensee ) was a painter and set designer in Berlin .

Around 1930 Toeffling began an apprenticeship as a decorative and theater painter at the Berlin School of Applied Arts .

Toeffling studied art in Italy from 1931 to 1935 and until 1941 in a stage design class in Berlin with a two-year stage design assistant. He began his creative period again in Berlin from 1945 with productions under Jürgen Fehling's direction; by 1947 the " Magic Flute " followed under Ernst Legal , the director of the State Opera at the time.

A series of cityscapes was created by 1951, in which the development of art is documented in oil paintings from the 1950s. Besides emerged portrait studies Berlin actor. With regular participation in the Great Berlin Art Exhibition (GBK) in the 1950s and 1960s, Toeffling became a juror in the Association of Berlin Artists (VBK).

In 1950 Toeffling furnished the summer party of the press under the radio tower, in 1951 and 1952 the press and radio balls at the palace and in the exhibition halls at the radio tower with large wall and ceiling pictures.

From 1952, when the Hebbel Theater was privatized, Toeffling resumed his work as a set designer there. This was followed by equipment in the Titania-Palast for operettas , then for the cabaret “ Die Stachelschweine ” from 1955 to 1960 as well as in the stands and in the - now defunct - Berlin theater until 1968; Until 1975 Toeffling carried out equipment work on various stages in West Germany.

In 1967 Toeffling and his daughter Annette-Maria were invited to the ideas competition for German participation in the 1970 World Exhibition in Osaka for the German pavilion .

In 1975/1976 Toeffling exhibited sets at the Prague Quadrennial (world exhibition for set designers and theater architects). After long study trips, a period of work as a freelance painter followed from 1975, in which mainly large-format oil paintings, surrealist-inspired cityscapes, were created: for example Rome 1976 and a topography of ancient Rome 1976/1978, Jerusalem 1981, Athens 1982 and 1991 and Benares 1991.

Inspired by daily piano play , an interest developed in converting Richard Wagner's musical fabric of the " ring " into surrealistic dream images. In collaboration with his daughter Annette-Maria Toeffling-Keller , a "Ring Cycle" of 16 pictures with accompanying texts was created from 1981 to 1985. Various pictures and stage designs are in the possession of the Stadtmuseum Berlin Foundation.

literature

• Werner Viktor Toeffling Foundation: StadtRaumBühne. Berlin 2012. ISBN 978-3-00-035968-2