Wolfgang Frankenstein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wolfgang Frankenstein (right) next to Inge Keller , 1960

Wolfgang Frankenstein (born May 5, 1918 in Berlin ; † March 7, 2010 ibid) was a German painter , graphic artist and university professor.

Life

Between 1926 and 1929, Wolfgang Frankenstein received drawing lessons from Paul Kuhfuss . After an evening study of drawing at the Berlin-Charlottenburg School of Applied Arts from 1933 to 1937 with Max Kaus , he was a trainee in commercial graphics until 1939. Since Wolfgang Frankenstein was a "half-Jew" , he was banned from studying in 1939 and was called up for military service. In 1941 he was able to continue his studies at the Kunsthochschule Charlottenburg, but in 1943 he was finally banned from studying, combined with the prohibition of any artistic work. In 1943 he received a service contract. In the same year his father was deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . In 1944, Wolfgang Frankenstein received an order to be presented to the Todt Organization's labor camp . After attempting suicide , he was admitted to the Berlin-Nikolassee mental hospital until the end of the war .

After the end of the war, Wolfgang Frankenstein worked as a freelance painter and contributed to the cultural magazines Der Ruf , Die Quelle and Athena . He was also a co-founder and actor of the artists' cabaret The Bathtub . From 1948 to 1951 he was the artistic director of the Gerd Rosen gallery . In 1951 Frankenstein massively opposed the remilitarization of West Germany, whereupon he was expelled from various associations. In 1953 he moved to the GDR . From 1952 to 1954 he was a master student of Heinrich Ehmsen at the Academy of Arts .

In 1954 Wolfgang Frankenstein married Margot Schmidt, in 1954 and 1959 the sons Matthias and Daniel were born.

In 1962 he was appointed professor for theory and practice in the visual arts at the University of Greifswald , and from 1968 to 1983 he was professor and head of art education at the Humboldt University in Berlin .

His doctorate in 1977 was followed by his habilitation in 1980 . In 1979 he became honorary president of the Association d'Art Plastique in UNESCO .

Study trips took him to Italy (1953 with Waldemar Grzimek ), Egypt , Bulgaria , Colombia , France , Chile , Peru , Iraq and the Soviet Union .

After 1990 Frankenstein had to accept the painful loss of building-related work. His mural in the dining room of the woodworks in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen , created between 1955 and 1957 , was destroyed when the building was demolished in 1992, although it would have been possible to include this building in the design of a new residential area. The then city district mayor commented on the destruction of the picture: "40 years of ' socialist realism ' are enough. I do not shed tears for such art."

Quotes

“There are things that you can sing but not say, there are things that you can say but not do, there are things that you cannot sing or say that you have to paint. I try to paint such things. " (WF 1947)

“Older images from a time that are difficult to visualize need explanations. Likewise, new creations that always - this is part of the essence of creativity - not only repeat what has already been there, but also present the unexpected in many ways. The viewer cannot measure it against what is already there, although on closer inspection it contains much more traditional than he thinks. He needs a key, an interpretation. " (WF 1972)

Works (selection)

"Sport-Frieze" at the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen (excerpt)

Construction-related work

gallery

Four examples of twenty murals by Wolfgang Frankenstein with Hartmut Hornung in the Magdalenenstrasse underground station, Berlin, with the titles of the works:

  • Reichstag fire

  • Book burning

  • mechanization

  • Factory work

Paintings and drawings

  • 1947 Invasion of the Brown Animals ( oil on canvas)
  • 1959 Portrait of Ludwig Renn (oil and tempera on hardboard)
  • 1960: Portrait of Richard Scheibe (oil on canvas)
  • 1966: Portrait of Ernst Busch (mixed media)
  • 1966–1967: The scientists against the misuse of their research - appeal of the Göttingen eighteen (mixed media on hard fiber)
  • 1967: Vietnam cycle (mixed media)
  • 1968–1969: November Revolution ( triptych ; mixed media on hardboard )
  • 1972: Indian woman (mixed media on hardboard)
  • 1976: Platz der Akademie, Berlin (oil on hardboard)

His oeuvre includes over 800 works, many of which are in the possession of German and international museums, for example in the collection of the Berlinische Galerie , the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation , the Berlin National Gallery , the Ludwig Collection , the Ahrenshoop Art Museum and the Slovak National Museum .

Awards

literature

  • Gerburg Förster: Wolfgang Frankenstein. Verlag der Kunst Dresden, 1976. (Painter and Work series).
  • Wolfgang Frankenstein catalog of works. Weimar art collections on the occasion of the traveling exhibition in Berlin, Rostock, Schwerin, Halle, 1978.
  • Wolfgang Frankenstein - painting and graphics. Catalog of the Berlinische Galerie, 1993, ISBN 3-927873-27-6
  • Short biography for:  Frankenstein, Wolfgang . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Michel: Arrival in Freedom. Essays against the loss of value in time , Berlin 2011, p. 192.

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Frankenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files


personal data
SURNAME Frankenstein, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, graphic artist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 2010
Place of death Berlin