Bernard Schultze

Biographical Sketch

Bernard Schultze was born on May 31, 1915 in Schneidemühl on Pila, Poland. In 1921 his family moved to Berlin. Finished secondary schooling at Prinz Heinrich Gymnasium in Berlin (1934). Institute for Art Education (Berlin, 1934-39), then art academy of Düsseldorf. His drawing skills were particularly well-groomed. Fought on the Russian and African fronts (1939-45). His early work was destroyed in 1944 during the war. Established his studio in Frankfurt in 1947. Refugee in Flensburg, moved to Frankfurt am Main (1945-47). Met Emil Nolde. First informal works (1951). 'New Expressionists' exhibit. In 1952: Quadriga, participated in the International Action Painting, Lyric Abstraction and Tachisme. Met Wols (1951). His colleagues in the Frankfurt Quadriga were Götz, Greis and Kreutz. They were called the new German Romanticists and - as Vedova or Burri in Italy - hailed as Tachists. Acquaintance with members of the Cobra Group. Creating a 'mish-mash of colors' became a part of the painterly technique, the materials being pigment powder and wood.

Married Ursula Bluhm - 1955. Schultze combined his expressive treatment of color with material effects. Thus objects appear which seem to tear themselves away from the painting - his 'Migofs' of wire, masses of plastic, wood, painted canvas. Of likewise great importance are Schultze's drawings. Beginning in the 70's, color became expressively independent, creating an abstract painterly reality which evoked at the same time a dramatic romanticism. Automatism and scrawling nature of his line grew in importance in his later period and appeared in conjunction with a volumetric color structure. His prints are characterised by these effects, which become the quintessence of his painting. Schultze is one of the most important contemporary painters in Germany. Today Bernard Schultze and his wife, also a painter, have a studio in Cologne. ek

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References:

Bernard Schultze. Das grosse Format. Katalog-Buch Ausstellung Museum Ludwig, Josef Haubrich Kunsthalle, Cologne 1994;

Monographie Bernard Schultze. Verlag Hirner, Munich 1991;

Heinrich Hahne. Bernard Schultze: Works from the Years 1952-1990. Galleria Henze, Campione d'Italia 1990;

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Note:

The references given are not meant as a list of the best works available on the subject, but simply reflect the author's sources.

Registers and catalogues of works are included when known and correspond to the information given in the index.