Willi Dirx

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Bronze door in the main portal of the Marienbasilika Kevelaer

Willi Dirx (born September 24, 1917 in Recklinghausen ; † October 9, 2002 in Wuppertal ) was an expressionist German graphic artist , sculptor and wood cutter .

Life

At 17, Willi Dirx had lessons from the sculptor and graphic artist Karl Ehlers . From 1937 to 1939 he studied graphics under Walter Maria Kersting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy , where he met Otto Pankok , Alfred Kubin and Richard Seewald . From the end of the Second World War until his death, he stayed in Wuppertal and worked there mainly as a wood cutter. Also linocuts , paintings (including glass paintings ), sculptures and reliefs and designs of stained glass windows and cross-roads , illustrations, books, calendars, etc. are part of his extensive work. These were shaped by his acquaintance with artists such as Kubin, Pankok or Seewald.

In 1942 he married Ruth Dirx , with whom he went on study trips to France, England, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and the USA from 1951. In the 1960s Dirx made the acquaintance of the naive painters there on a trip to Yugoslavia and personally brought many of their works to Germany (e.g. Jonas, Chalupowa, etc.). He was friends with Heinrich Böll .

Dirx was a member of the Bergische Kunstgenossenschaft (BKG), the Federal Association of Visual Artists (BBK) and the West German Artists Association .

He is considered to be one of the last great wood cutters and very often dealt with Christian topics in his art.

His son is the German politician of the SPD and union functionary of IG Metall , Axel Dirx .

Works

Sculptures in bronze and aluminum

Figure relief in the comprehensive school Barmen in Wuppertal

In 1965 Willi Dirx created his first large sculpture for the pedestrian tunnel on the Alter Markt in Wuppertal Barmen with the figure relief People in Conversation . After the relief made of aluminum , 7.00 meters wide and 2.40 meters high, was badly damaged , it was brought to the comprehensive school in Wuppertal-Barmen , where it was restored and hung on the wall opposite the cafeteria.

He made the portal for the Marienbasilika Kevelaer . In the Church of St. Mauritius in Hattingen-Niederwenigern (Mauritius Cathedral) the ambo and the lid are on the font by Willi Dirx. The interior of St. Antonius Klosterhardt in Oberhausen-Osterfeld was mainly designed by him. An altar cross with the cast body is an essential design element in the St. Suitbert Church in Essen-Überruhr. For the St. Hubertus Church in Essen-Bergerhausen, Willi Dirx created a Way of the Cross from aluminum reliefs with 15 stations. This was replaced by the Way of the Cross from the Church of St. Raffael in Essen-Bergerhausen. In 2013 the Way of the Cross created by Willi Dirx was handed over to the Franciscan Sisters in Essen-Bedingrade and has been hanging in the sisters ' cemetery ever since.

Graphics

One of his most famous woodcuts is the Jews' procession through the Red Sea , which was inspired by the wandering refugee routes of the Second World War, which he witnessed as a soldier. In the church of St. Suitbert Willi Dirx designed the Way of the Cross with fourteen woodcuts .

In the church of St. Konrad Gelsenkirchen Willi Dirx designed a series of ten stained glass windows with themes from the life of Mary .

Publications

Folder Willi Dirx Way of the Cross
  • At home on the go. Woodcuts by Willi Dirx. Image meditations by Heinz-Josef Lambertz. Verlag Einhard, Aachen 1987.
  • "Portfolio Willi Dirx Way of the Cross" 14 woodcuts in a unique, numbered and signed edition of 200 pieces. Publisher Joseph Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1967.
  • Way of the Cross. Woodcuts by Willi Dirx. Texts: Alfred Delp. Selected u. inserted by Ludger Stüper. Joseph Knecht Publishing House, Frankfurt am Main 1966.
  • The picture book of bread. Woodcuts by Willi Dirx. Text by Annelise Vogt. Verlag Scherpe, Krefeld 1949.

Publicly owned works

Awards

  • Woodcut from the Way of the Cross in St. Suitbert (Überruhr-Holthausen)

  • Part of the Way of the Cross in Essen-Bedingrade

swell

  • Wuppertal artist directory 2000. Von-der-Heydt-Museum Wuppertal
  • Art portal of the Sparkasse Wuppertal
  • Julius Angerhausen: The pilgrim portal of the basilica.

Web links

Commons : Willi Dirx  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Dirx, Willi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Recklinghausen
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 2002
Place of death Wuppertal