ZEN 49
ZEN 49 was a group of seven German artists that came together in Munich in 1949.
In July 1949 the art critic founded on the initiative of John Anthony Thwaites and painter Rupprecht Geiger seven artists ( Baumeister , Rolf Cavael , Gerhard Fietz , Rupprecht Geiger, Willy Hempel , Brigitte matschinsky-denninghoff and Fritz Winter ) in Munich Stangl Modern Gallery Otto the The group of non-objective people who named themselves ZEN 49 in late 1949 / early 1950 . Gerhard Fietz wrote that the name ZEN 49 documents the intellectual community of the participants in the effort to create a new art in post-war Germany. It was not just an artistic, but also a moral new beginning, to which the members of the group felt called upon.
In view of a sometimes bitter and polemical discussion in the Federal Republic of Germany about figurative and non-figurative art, it was the aim of these artists to make the abstract painting they practice accessible to a wider audience and thus more understandable . The ZEN 49 group as well as some art historians, art writers and publishers in their environment advocated wider recognition of modern artistic forms of expression.
The ZEN 49 group represents an important phase in the development of modern, abstract art in Germany and Europe. Their first exhibition took place in 1950 at the Central Collecting Point in Munich. Further exhibitions followed until 1957. Other artists, art historians, gallery owners and critics from home and abroad were invited to the events. In 1987 and 1999, sensational group retrospectives took place in Baden-Baden and Munich, respectively.
Exhibitions
- 1950 Central Art Collecting Point, Munich
- 1950 Ruhstrat Gallery, Hamburg
- 1951 Galerie des Amerika-Haus, Munich
- 1953 Galerie Ophir, Munich
- 1955 Municipal Gallery, Munich
- 1957 traveling exhibition in the USA