Wolfgang Behrend

The eye - the trademark of Wolfgang Behrend

Wolfgang Behrend (born June 8, 1944 in Hamburg ; † September 24, 2015 ) was a German painter, draftsman, illustrator and photographer.

Life

Behrend attended middle school in Hamburg until he finished 10th grade. In 1961 he began an apprenticeship as a cartographer at the German Hydrographic Institute . He finished his training in 1964. He then did his military service in Neumünster . After that Wolfgang Behrend worked again at the Hydrographic Institute in Hamburg until 1968. In 1968 he opened an antique shop in Hamburg-Eppendorf , which he ran until 1973.

During this time his art direction was shaped. Through autodidactic studies, Behrend came closer and closer to the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism , was impressed by the works of Ernst Fuchs and Rudolf Hausner, but also by Horst Janssen and Dalí. The most accurate representation of reality, but also the design of fantastic-unreal creations determined the resulting pictures, which were painted with oil paint, black-and-white drawings, colored pencils, mixed media with acrylic paints and airbrush. In 1974 the first solo exhibitions arose in galleries in Berlin and Munich.

In 1975, Behrend made a decision to go into art and give up the business. He moved into an artist domicile where he worked as a freelance artist and earned his living from it. In 1976 he moved into a shared apartment with students from the HfBK Hamburg. During this time, he also created illustrations for food packaging and the first record covers for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. During this time he met the photographer David Hamilton and contacts to France were established. In 1978, Behrend's partner Helga moved into the flat, and in 1979 their daughter Katharina was born. At the end of the 1970s he met Gunter Sachs, an admirer of his art. In 1981 the small family moved to Dreggers to rebuild an old farm remnant. In 1983 their son Philipp was born.

The artistic style approached realism. In the following years, in addition to the exhibitions with freelance work, orders from the publishing house Gruner + Jahr for the magazine Brigitte and for two cover pictures for the magazine Stern. In Paris he worked for advertising agencies and designed illustrations and pictures for Cartier and Celine.

In 1986 I contacted the magazine Der Spiegel . This collaboration resulted in around 85 cover illustrations for Spiegel magazine by 1998, 25 of which appeared on the cover and around 30 for Spiegel special, five of which appeared on the cover and around ten on the inside. In the years up to 1997 he also designed records and video covers. Book illustrations, portraits and freelance work were created in the rural seclusion of Dreggers. He passed on his artistic experience as a lecturer in nude painting at the VHS Bad Segeberg. In 1991 he met Peter Hick, which resulted in a collaboration for the Störtebeker Festival .

In 2000 Behrend moved to Jarnitz on Rügen. In addition to his work for the festival, Behrend's work expanded to include nude photography. His main tool for image processing and illustration was the computer. Skat games, a rummy game and a quartet are also drawn in the computer.

Behrend's pictures are owned by the city of Bad Segeberg , the city of Burghausen, in the Erotic Art Museum Hamburg , Museum for Art and Crafts in Hamburg, owned by the heirs of Gunter Sachs , David Hamilton , O. Dassault and Prince Rainier III. from Monaco .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ralf Eppinger, Maik Trettin: “Störti painter” died at the age of 71. ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Ostsee-Zeitung, September 30, 2015. Accessed October 2, 2015.