Werner Rosenbusch

Werner Rosenbusch as a young painter, 1958

Werner Rosenbusch (born December 5, 1924 in Ulm ; † July 18, 2016 there ) was a German painter , graphic artist and draftsman. His work is assigned to magical realism .

Life

Even while he was still at school he felt drawn to drawing and painting. His art teachers promoted his talent. During the Second World War he attended the teacher training college in Esslingen, was an elementary school teacher in the Black Forest and in 1943 was drafted as a soldier.

Werner Rosenbusch received his artistic training between 1946 and 1948 at the Ulm School of Arts and Crafts under Wilhelm Geyer . He received individual tuition from Richard Aich. In 1946 he exhibited for the first time. The Ulm Museum showed 'Young Ulm Artists'.

After the end of the war until the end of the 1970s Werner Rosenbusch worked as a teacher in Ulm (art and German) at various schools and taught art history and drawing at the adult education center . In 1949 he married his childhood friend, the painter Lotte Walz from Tübingen . In the meantime, both were so well known in the Ulm art scene that they received a scholarship from the city of Ulm for a six-month stay in Italy . They stayed in Rome for the first three months and then traveled to Capri , Spoleto , Assisi and Venice . In 1955, his stay resulted in a large solo exhibition for Werner Rosenbusch: 'L'altra Italia, tempere, aquarelli ed incisioni del pittore tedesco' in the Bibliotheca Germanica in Rome.

Exhibition poster: L'altra Italia, Werner Rosenbusch, December 28, 1955-8.1.56 in the Biblioteca Germanica in Rome

Werner and Lotte Rosenbusch were able to exhibit more and more often in Ulm and the surrounding area. Long trips and stays in other places were important for both as a source of artistic creation. From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the couple often spent the summers at the Rannahof owned by their Austrian artist friend Gertrud Stingl in Schwallenbach / Wachau in Austria, and from the mid-1970s with the family of the painter Otto Marquard in Allensbach on Lake Constance . Italy (mainly Rome, Venice and Liguria ) and Austria (especially the Wachau and Salzburg) became a second home for both.

After participating in several exhibitions in Salzburg , Werner Rosenbusch received the honorary prize for painting from the Kunstverein Salzburg twice in 1960 and 1963.

In addition to their travels, Werner and Lotte Rosenbusch were active in the Ulm art scene. Initially, they exhibited in the association of the artists' guild. In 1958 Werner Rosenbusch initiated the establishment of the 'Ulm Exhibitor Association', in which Lotte Rosenbusch-Walz became a member alongside initially six other Ulm artists. The Ulm artists' guild took them to modern ways. The area of ​​tension lay between representational and abstract. There was lively coverage in the Ulm press.

In 1962, one of Werner Rosenbusch's woodcuts was selected for the first representative exhibition of the 'Modern Graphics' working group for the adult education centers of the Federal Republic in Frankenthal / Palatinate . One example is the woodcut 'The Black Ball', which Werner Rosenbusch published in 1958 for the Griffelkunst Association.

In the same year his son Fabian was born. In the 1960s there was either a solo or a group exhibition each year with the participation of Werner Rosenbusch in Ulm, further exhibitions in Wiesbaden , Bad Godesberg , Schwäbisch Gmünd and in Melbourne , Australia , where Werner was invited again in 1975. In the 1970s there were several exhibitions in Switzerland ( Zurich , Herrliberg, Lucerne ) and joint exhibitions together with Lotte Rosenbusch. Between 1955 and 2014 Werner Rosenbusch presented his work to the public in around 100 exhibitions, up to 1990 around four times a year.

In the spring of 1969 the journalist Tina Peters visited the Rosenbusch couple and tried to classify them in terms of art history:

“The attempt to classify Rosenbusch's work in an art category usually yields the catchphrase of 'magical realism' and, like all definitions, is only partially correct. The boundaries are rather fluid. Rosenbusch is not an abstract person. It is rooted in the world of things, which he surreally exaggerates, illuminates in their backgrounds and translates into a concise imagery determined by the line. Architecture, nature and people are brought into relationship with a clear order and a distancing sobriety. The strict compositional will is most evident in Rosenbusch's graphic works. The draftsman takes precedence over the painter and perhaps achieves the greatest expressiveness in the woodcuts (example of the 'Couples' cycle, recently shown in the town hall). In recent years, however, Rosenbusch's painterly oeuvre has surprisingly seen a new train of gentler colors and painterly relaxedness, which at times softens the strict form. The cause for this may also lie in increasing maturity, growing freedom and mastery of the means as well as in a turn to the emotional that goes along with some maturation process. "

1971 and 1972 Werner Rosenbusch attended the Summer Academy in Salzburg in specialized etching at Otto Eglau . As a result, a large bundle of etchings was created, as well as two 'work books' with which he documented the creation process of the etching and used it for his art education work. Caspar David Friedrich always remains his great role model.

In 1974 Werner Rosenbusch started the first test hike for his large project over the next twenty years. When he discovered hiking as a calling at the beginning of the 1970s - soon he was nicknamed 'wandering draftsman', 'drawing wanderer' - the pencil, pen and watercolor box were the appropriate means. Thousands of drawings (“in a practical, transportable format of 18 × 24 cm”) were created during the 22 major hikes of that time. They are intended as a chronicle and, in their abundance, a reflection of large parts of the European cultural area: “A pictorial recording of the topographical conditions is always a chronicle.” In addition, larger formats are also created in the studio or during stationary stays in the landscape.

A large part of the bundle of traveling drawings has been in the Ulm city archive as a gift from the artist since 1998. Werner Rosenbusch wanted to make this complete work of 20 years of wandering in Germany and its neighboring countries available to the public and thus enable studies interested in regional studies. In addition, he has published numerous sketches and watercolors from his walks along the Neckar, Danube, Lahn, around Lake Constance and on the Swabian Alb in a total of 13 books.

Since the late 1990s, Werner Rosenbusch had been living in seclusion with his wife in the Söflingen district of Ulm. Exhibitions are usually organized in conjunction with one of his hiking sketchbooks. For the 175th anniversary of the city of Salzburg, his oil painting Hellbrunner Ebene from 1956, which the city bought for the city of Salzburg's art museum, was once again honored in the exhibition and in the catalog on city history. Werner Rosenbusch died on July 18, 2016.

Exhibitions (selection)

• 1946: Ulm, Ulmer Museum, group exhibition: Young Ulm artists
• 1955: Esslingen, town hall, group exhibition, young Ulm artists (also Lotte Rosenbusch)
• 1957: Salzburg, Austria, Kunstverein Salzburg, group exhibition, annual exhibition of the Kunstverein
• 1958: Linz, Austria, New Gallery of the City of Linz Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum, group exhibition: six painters from Turin and Milan and Werner Rosenbusch, tempera, watercolors, drawings, woodcuts
• 1958: Frankenthal / Pfalz, Working Group Modern Graphics, 1st representative exhibition of the Working Group 'Modern Graphics' (218 artists, 1607 works submitted, 110 selected)
• 1959: Reutlingen Spendhaus, solo exhibition: 130 works (tempera, oil, watercolors, graphics), newspaper article in the Reutlingen Generalanzeiger of January 12, 1959
• 1960: Konstanz, group exhibition: Ulm exhibitor community (also Lotte Rosenbusch)
• 1961: Ulm, Kunstverein Ulm in the Museum Ulm: Ulmer Kunst 61 (also Lotte Rosenbusch)
• 1962/63: Frankenthal / Pfalz, group exhibition: Neue deutsche Graphik (by Werner Rosenbusch: woodcut 'Der Kaufmann', 1400 works submitted by 247 artists, Rosenbusch among the 71 selected artists)
• 1965: Wiesbaden Nassauischer Kunstverein, group exhibition: Present-day representational art
• 1967: Ulm Schwörhaus, solo exhibition: 'Aquarelle',
• 1969: Melbourne, Australia, europa gallery, solo exhibition: 'A Time for Graphics', woodcuts, newspaper article in: The Herald, December 17, 1969
• 1970: Munich Neue Münchner Galerie, solo exhibition, 'Werner Rosenbusch, paintings, watercolors, drawings, graphics', invitation from the gallery
• 1971: Rüsselsheim, group exhibition by Xylon, International Association of Wood Cutters
• 1972: Ulm Schwörhaus, reading room of the museum, solo exhibition: 'Graphics', newspaper article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, undated
• 1973: Zurich, Switzerland, Galerie Valentin, 8001 Zurich, solo exhibition: 'Werner Rosenbusch: oils, watercolors, etchings and woodcuts', invitation card from the gallery
• 1975: Herrliberg, Switzerland, Galerie am Dorfplatz, solo exhibition: 'From Nice to Lake Zurich'. A journey in watercolors, information sheet from the gallery
• 1976: Ulm Schwörhaus, solo exhibition: portraits
• 1977: Berlin Haus am Lützowplatz, group exhibition by Xylon, International Association of Wood Cutters, newspaper article in: Die Welt, October 21, 1977
• 1978: Salzburg, Austria, Palette 78, group exhibition
• 1981: Werdenberg / Buchs, Switzerland, Städtli-Galerie, solo exhibition: watercolors
• 1982: Ulm Schuhhaus, group exhibition: Ulmer Kunst 82 (also Lotte Rosenbusch)
• 1983: Tamm Kelter / Town Hall, solo exhibition: The Kelter in Tamm
• 1984: Ulm Künstlerhaus Ulm, group exhibition 'Heaven and Earth', with Lotte Rosenbusch, Alfred Bradler and Marianne Mostert,
• 1986: Göppingen-Hohenstaufen, solo exhibition: 'Swabian Alb'
• 1989: Ulm Pro-arte Art Foundation, solo exhibition: Panoramas
• 1993/94: Owingen Rathausgalerie, solo exhibition: 'Aquarelle und Unikate'
• 2002: Castles / Lower Moselle, Castles Culture Week, group exhibition: 'Rhine and Moselle Romanticism', KuWoB
• 2008: Ulm Jörg-Syrlin-Haus, double exhibition with Lotte Rosenbusch: 'Paar-Weise'
• 2009: Ulm House of Encounters, group exhibition with Georg Bosch and Robert Weber: 'Three Ulmer Painters'
• 2008/09: Salzburg, Austria, Kunsthalle, group exhibition: City of Salzburg, views from five centuries, illustration in the catalog: Werner Rosenbusch, Hellbrunner Ebene, 1956, tempera on white paper, Salzburg Museum, 140 city views from the collections of the Salzburg Museum for the 175th time Year anniversary
• 2009/2010: Unkel, Galerie Oltmanns, group exhibition: Trouvailles - lucky finds from the gallery's holdings
• 2016: Ulm-Söflingen, Lotte and Werner Rosenbusch - the Söflingen artist couple

Works

• Tempera pictures, watercolors, drawings, woodcuts; Collective exhibition. Catalog of the exhibition Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum, 1958, 8 pages
• From Passau to Heidelberg. Vol. 1 .: Passau - Vierzehnheiligen, Armin Vaas, Ulm 1979, ISBN 3-88360-013-X
• From Passau to Heidelberg. Vol. 2 .: Vierzehnheiligen - Heidelberg, Armin Vaas, Ulm 1980, ISBN 3-88360-017-2
• When you come to Söflingen ... old tracks, new paths. Text by Eberhard Neubronner, Armin Vaas, Ulm 1980, ISBN 3-88360-014-8
• On the way as a painter on Lake Constance. Part: 1, exclusive edition in an edition of 1750 copies, individually numbered a. signed by the artist, Stadler, Konstanz 1984, ISBN 3-7977-0117-9
• Swabian Alb: encounters with nature. Armin Vaas, Ulm 1985, ISBN 3-88360-049-0
• On the way as a painter on Lake Constance. Part: 2, exclusive edition in an edition of 1750 copies, individually numbered a. signed by the artist, Stadler, Konstanz 1986, ISBN 3-7977-0134-9
• On the banks of the Lahn: a hike from d. Source to the mouth in Wort u. Image. Limburger Vereindruck , Limburg 1986, ISBN 3-87487-005-7
• On the road as a painter in Ulm. Stadler, Konstanz 1987, ISBN 3-7977-0163-2
• On the Neckar as a painter. From the source to Marbach. Stadler, Konstanz 1988, ISBN 3-7977-0190-X
• The Danube from Passau to the Hungarian Gate. Pen drawings. 2 volumes in a slipcase, volume 1: From Passau to Schwallenbach, volume 2: from Schwallenbach to the Hungarian Porte, self-published, Ulm 1989
• Danube impressions: on foot with pencil and brush from the source to Passau. Passavia, Passau 1990, ISBN 3-87616-156-8
• Passau. The stone ship. Passavia, Passau 1994, ISBN 3-87616-186-X

literature

• Rosenbusch, Werner . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 4 : Q-U . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1958, p. 107 .

Web links

Commons : Werner Rosenbusch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Federal Archives - Central Database of Legacies
• Literature by and about Werner Rosenbusch in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner Rosenbusch reports on this in his unpublished autobiography: “All documents are missing from my exhibition in the Ulm Museum in October. However, it was crucial for moving on, as I wasn't at all sure about everything my hand was delivering to me. After all, the war years in this u. that garrison produced much admired work, especially the portraits in the Warthegau. ... The Ulm Museum, which got through the war fairly well, held one of its first exhibitions under the title “Young Ulm Artists”. I was right there u. had a whole sack of drawings and To offer watercolors ... "
2. ↑ See scan of the exhibition poster : L'altra Italia, tempere, acquarelli ed incisioni del pittore tedesco Werner Rosenbusch, December 28, 1955 - January 8, 1956 , in Rome in the Biblioteca germanica; see also: Newspaper article in the Südwestpresse, SWP of January 13, 1956 BC Blida Heynold-v.Graefe, Rome.
3. ↑ Receipt and exact data requested from the Kunstverein Salzburg by email on August 27, 2016.
4. ^ "... artists who are like-minded in their clinging to the representational ...", in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, SDZ June 23, 1958
5. ↑ From 1607 works submitted 110 are selected, including Werner Rosenbusch, Trattoria (from the Totentanz cycle), woodcut, 40 × 30. More pictures by artists like Otto Eglau, Hermann Ober, Rudolf Weissauer.
6. ↑ Werner Rosenbusch, The Black Ball, woodcut, illustration in: Lieselotte Kruglewsky-Anders (Ed.): 50 Years of the Griffelkunst-Vereinigung , Edition Griffelkunst, Hamburg 1977.
7. ↑ Tina Peters: “In the studio of a painting couple”, visiting Lotte and Werner Rosenbusch - related features in separate pictorial worlds . In: Südwestpresse March 1, 1969.
8. ↑ Werner Rosenbusch, The Danube. From Passau to the Hungarian Gate. 2 volumes in a slipcase, self-published, Ulm 1989, for picture 15
9. ↑ http://www.onlinekatalog-stadtarchiv.ulm.de/Hb38.html
10. ↑ Erich Marx, Peter Laub (ed.): City of Salzburg. Views from five centuries . Salzburg Museum 2008; Exhibition in the Salzburg Museum - Neue Residenz Kunsthalle, October 31, 2008 to June 28, 2009 [1] (Fig. Hellbrunner Ebene)
11. ↑ http://www.swp.de/ulm/lokales/ulm_neu_ulm/gemalte-reisen-13666181.html
12. ↑ http://www.museum-soeflingen.de/