Paul Wunderlich

PAUL WUNDERLICH

Paul Wunderlich was born in Germany in 1927. He died in France in 2010
Wunderlich’s prolific works in painting, drawing, lithography and sculpture are linked to the second generation of Fantastic Realists, sometimes called Magical Realists, who were inspired by dream imagery.
After Picasso and Max Ernst no other artist has contributed as much to the sculpture of painters as Wunderlich. The thematic for his sculptures and objects is closely linked to his paintings, drawings and lithographs.
Wunderlich studied at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Art. He has been exhibited widely throughout the world. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, Getty Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, Musées des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Museum Ludwig, Köln, Museum Atheneum, Helsinki, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Kamakura Museum of Sculpture, amongst others.
Often borrowing from classical mythology, Wunderlich emphasized the human form within a context that blends together contemporary and historical references. With cool aloofness, he transports the viewer into a world of surreal eroticism, aesthetic symbolism and a dose of irony.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

Paul Wunderlich on his technique for Stone Lithography:

The technique I have used for my lithographs since 1988 is new in two important respects:

1.The result is obtained without proofing, that is, step by step while printing the edition.

2.The same stone is used for all the colors.

The first drawing in very thin ink is done on transfer paper, using a brush, to lay out the strongest and lightest areas of shade. After this sketch has been transferred to the stone, all the sheets for the proposed edition are printed in the first color. The original drawing on the stone is then partially removed and other parts are restored. After that follows the printing of the second color on all the sheets of the edition. The process of removing, restoring and printing is repeated until the final result is achieved.

The method entails a very high risk of failure, but it permits free and spontaneous expression, which has not been possible up to now in color graphics.

- Paul Wunderlich

AVAILABLE WORKS

We have a substantial number of works immediately available, however our inventory changes frequently, so here are some examples of noteworthy works. If you would like to know what we have in the gallery, please start the dialogue using the form below.

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BIOGRAPHY

Paul Wunderlich was born in Eberswalde, outside of Berlin on March 10, 1927. After secondary school, military service and a short stint as a prisoner of war, he studied at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Art from 1947 to 1951. Fresh out of art school, he was entrusted with managing the academy’s print workshop, where he made prints for Oskar Kokoschka and Emil Nolde, among others. After a three year stay in Paris he returned to Hamburg in 1963 as a professor of painting. He resigned from his professorship in 1968 to work as a freelance artist. Paul Wunderllich lived and worked together with his wife, photographer Karin Szekessy, in his home and studio high above the rooftops of Hamburg. They divided their time between that home and their second residence in the Provence of the South of France, where he died suddenly on June 6th 2010 surrounded by his family.

Paul Wunderlich belonged to a group of contemporary German artists with an international reputation. His work in painting, drawing, lithography and sculpture is appreciated worldwide. Wunderlich’s artistry was linked to “Fantastic Realism,” a unique and distinctive style developed around 1950 by a group of young European artists who chose images from their dream visions as subject matter. Often erotically charged, these fragmented universes brought together both exotic and everyday elements. In the tradition of the Surrealists, the Fantastic Realists chose to work with precise images and details culled from visual memory, then combined in strange and dreamlike ways. Unlike their contemporary Abstractionists or Expressionists, they emphasized communicating with pure imagery as opposed to gesture in paint. Their lines are clear even when the image is distorted. In Fantastic Realism, subjectivity is often emphasized with the image of an open head or torso out of which spills the fantastical landscape. The head or torso emphasizes the role of the individual and the personal nature of the reality projected.

Paul Wunderlich belonged to the second generation of Fantastic Realists, sometimes called Magical Realists. These artists have remained faithful to the tradition albeit with contemporary imagery. Paul Wunderlich, the most prominent among them, had developed a style slightly cooler in temperament and more analytical. Often borrowing from classical mythology, he emphasized the human form within a context that blends together contemporary and historical references. With cool aloofness, Wunderlich transports the viewer into a world of surreal eroticism and aesthetic symbolism. Again and again, Wunderlich spiced his Fantastic Realism with a startling dose of irony.

After Picasso and Max Ernst no other artist has contributed as much to the sculpture of painters as Paul Wunderlich. The thematic for his sculptures and objects is closely linked to his paintings, drawings and lithographs. Wunderlich sculptures and objects combine the simplicity of an idea with the refinement of the material, and imagination with perfection in shaping something into a perfect form.

As an artist, Paul Wunderlich remained faithful to his own artistic visions. Over a period of several decades, Wunderlich’s complex and comprehensive body of work enjoyed numerous exhibitions in museums worldwide.

1927	Born March 10th in Eberswalde, Brandenburg, in Germany
1945	Served in German Army
1947	Studies graphic arts-University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
1963	Professor of Graphic Arts-University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany
1951-60	Received a teaching contract for etching and lithography techniques
1960-63	Lived and worked in Paris, produced numerous lithographs
1963-67	Professor, Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Hamburg
1965-70	Various exhibitions throughout the world
1970	Stayed in New York
1971	Married Karin Székessy
1973	Lived and worked in Italy and France
1976-81	Stayed in Switzerland and Belgium
1981	Bought a house in Provence
1983-86	Devoted himself intensively to sculpture
1987	Concentrated on lithography
1987-89	Large format color lithographs using new techniques
1990	Sculpture, painting (including paraphrases in the style of Lukas Granach and The Ecole de Fontainebleau)
1991	Exhibitions in London and Darmstadt
1992	Large sculptures, exhibition in Copenhagen
1992	Exhibition in Belgium
1994-95	Retrospectives in several Japanese museums (Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Gifu). Further large and small sculptures.
1996	Exhibitions in London and Barcelona, pastels and a book on angels based on poems by Alberti
1997	Devoted time to animal sculpture
2010	July 6th - Dies suddenly at his home in the South of France

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1949	Overbeck-Gesellschaft, Lubeck, West Germany
1951	Hamburg Artists’ Club-Hamburg, Germany
1955	Hamburger Kunstlerclub Die Insel, Hamburg, Kushiro City Art Gallery, Hokkaido
1957	Congress for the Freedom of Culture-Hamburg, Germany
1958	Galerie Nebelung, Dusseldorf, Orangerie, Eutin, West Germany
1960	Dragonsrestall Gallery-Hamburg,Germany
1962	Galerie Brusberg, Hannover Galerie Diogenes, Berlin Galerie Brockstedt, Hamburg
1963	Print Club Gallery-Philadelphia, PA
	Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts
	Galerie Sydow, Frankfurt
	Galerie Niedlich, Stuttgart
	San Francisco Museum of Art, California
	Galerie Rothe, Heidelberg Germany
	Galerie Niepel, Dusseldorf
	Museum of Art, Miami, Florida
	Eric Locke Gallery, San Francisco
1964	Galerie van de Loo, Munich, Germany Galerie Brechbuhl, Grenchen, Switzerland,
1964	Arco Gallery-Rome, Italy
	Musee des Beaux-Arts, Mons, Belgium
	Galerie Ernst Hauswedell, Baden-Baden, Germany
	Galerie Neipel, Dusseldorf
1965	Kaiserslautern, West Germany, Galerie Wilbrand,
1965	Munster, West Germany
	Kubus-Austellung, Hannover
	Europa Center, Berlin
	Kunstverein, Dusseldorf
	Stadtische Galerie, Bochum, Germany
	Galerie Brusberg, Hannover
	Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
1967	Overbeck-Gesellschaft, Lubeck,
	Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich
	Galerie Toni Gerber, Berne
	Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand
1968	Redfern Gallery, London
	Galerie Passepartout, Copenhagen
	Galerie d’Eendt, Amsterdam
1968	Perls Gallery, Los Angeles
	Phoenix Gallery, Berkeley, California
	Kovler Gallery, Chicago
1970	Galerie Brusberg, Hannover
	Staempfli Gallery, New York
	Kunsthalle, Recklinghausen, Germany
	Kunsthalle, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
1971	Galerie Aronowitsch, Stockholm Galleriea Schwarz, Milan
1971	Amos Andersonin Taidemuseo, Helsinki, Perls Gallery, Los Angeles
1971	Tokyo Gallery-Tokyo, Japan, Berggruen Gallery-San Francisco, CA
1972	Staempfli Gallery, New York
	Galerie Berggruen, Paris
	Galerie Andre Francois Petit, Paris
	Galleria La Bussola, Turin
	Anglolare Gallery of Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy
1973	Redfern Gallery, London, Galerie Levy, Hamburg
1973	Baukunst, Cologne, Staempfli Gallery-New York
1974	Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Art Contacts, Paris
	Kunsthalle, Kiel, Germany
	Nouvelle Vision Gallery-Tokyo, Japan
	University Gallery-Amherst, Mass
1975	Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, West Germany
	Kunstverein, Augsburg, West Germany
	Galerie Cour, Saint-Pierre, Geneva
	Galerie Orangerie, Cologne
1976	Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium
1976	Galerie Octave Negru, Paris
1976	Galerie Uddenberg, Goteborg, Sweden
1976	Galerie Berggruen, Paris
1977	Redfern Gallery, London
1978	Negru Gallery-Paris, France
1980	Redfern Gallery, London
	Seibu Museum, Tokyo
	Kunsthalle, Kiel
1983	Fondation Veranneman, Gent, Belgium
1985	Le Bateau Lavoir, Paris, Galerie Sonet, Stockholm
1987	Redfern Gallery, London
	Schleswig-Holsteinisches Museum, Schleswig
1990	Hohmann Gallery, Hamburg
	Galerie Trigano, Paris (FIAC)
1991	Redfern Gallery, London ‘New Paintings, Sculpture, Pastels & Prints’
1994	Gerhard Wurzer Gallery, Houston
1995	Major retrospective exhibition - touring to four museums in Japan
	Mitaka City Art Gallery, Tokyo
	Navio Hankyu Museum, Osaka
1996	Redfern Gallery, London
1999	The Hart Gallery, Carmel, CA, Palm Desert, CA, Chicago, IL
2009	Christian Hohmann Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA