- Richard Oelze
Richard Oelze (born
June 29 ,1900 inMagdeburg ; diedNovember 26 ,1980 inGut Posteholz nearHameln ) was a German painter. He is classified as a surrealist.Life
As of 1914, Oelze attended the School of Decorative Arts in Magdeburg, where he was trained as a
lithographer until 1918. He learned nude drawing in evening classes. Among his teachers there wereRichard Winckel andKurt Tuch , as of 1918. From 1919 until 1921, he completed his studies at the same school as a "Stipendiat" (a person receiving a scholarship). Between 1921 and 1925, he was a student at theBauhaus , at first inWeimar withJohannes Itten , and then inDessau , where he received a special teaching post at the Bauhaus. From 1926 until 1929, he lived inDresden , participating in an exhibition of the "Dredner Secession" there, and lived from 1929 through 1930 inAscona inSwitzerland , and then inBerlin until 1932. After a longer residence at theGardasee , he stayed in Paris in the years from 1932 to 1936 and became acquainted withAndré Breton ,Salvador Dalí ,Paul Éluard andMax Ernst . In 1936 and 1937, he again lived in Switzerland and inItaly . In 1938, he moved toGermany , where he settled in the artists' colony inWorpswede in 1939. From 1941 through 1945, he performed military service and was taken prisoner. After the war, he again went to Worpswede, where he worked until 1962, and then moved to Posteholz. Richard Oelze participated in documenta II in 1959 and in documenta III in 1964 inKassel . In 1965, he became a member of the "Akademie der Künste " in Berlin.Work
His most important work may well be "Die Erwartung" (The Expectation, 1935/1936), where a group of people stare into an empty landscape with their backs to the observer. This picture is judged to be a fundamental picture in the history of painting. However, he had already had great success with exhibitions in
Amsterdam ,London , Paris and New York.Oelze was regarded as one of the most important painters of
surrealism . His works are typified by a secretive representation of landscape and figural compositions, with rendition of details in the manner of the old masters.Oelze had an important influence on the later French surrealist,
Christian d'Orgeix .Honors
Oelze is the winner of the "Max-Beckmann-Preis", received the "Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Preis" of the city of
Hagen , the "Großen Kunstpreis" (Great Art Prize) of the state ofNorth Rhine Westphalia , the "Lichtwark-Preis " of the city ofHamburg and was awarded the "Niedersachsenpreis" in the category of culture in 1980.The city of
Magdeburg named a street for Oelze, the "Oelzeweg", and there is a "Richard-Oelze-Ring" inWorpswede .Literature/References
"All references are in German"
*Klaus Lison: "Magdeburger Maler war weltbekannt", Magdeburger Volksstimme of
November 10 ,2005
*Ines Hildebrand, in "Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon ", 2002, Magdeburg, ISBN 3-933046-49-1
*Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (publ.): "Einblicke. Das 20. Jahrhundert in der Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf", Hatje Kantz Verlag, Düsseldorf 2000; ISBN 3-7757-0853-7
*Martin Wiehle, "Magdeburger Persönlichkeiten", 1993, Magdeburg, ISBN 3-910146-06-6External links
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