Lüpertz, Markus
Markus Lüpertz, born 25.4.1941 in Liberec (Czech Republic) - formerly: Reichenberg (Bohemia) - , has had an eventful life, starting at an early age: In 1948 the family fled to the Rhineland and settled in Rheydt. He studied at the Werkkunstschule Krefeld under Laurens Goosens, then at the Maria Laach Monastery and for one semester at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. To finance his studies he worked in coal mining and road construction, among other things. After a brief intermezzo in the French Foreign Legion, he settled as an artist in Düsseldorf in 1961, but soon (1962) moved to West Berlin. In 1970 he was awarded the Villa Romana Prize and spent a year in Florence, winning the German Critics' Association Prize in 1971. After that, the success of his multifaceted activity in the field of the arts begins: - Painter (from 1960) - Sculptor (from 1980) - Stage painter (various operas) - Poet (published volumes of poetry from 1975) - Editor (magazine "Frau und Hund") - Jazz musician (with his own band and regular performances, e.g. at exhibition openings) - Graphic artist (etchings, lithographs and serigraphs) - Lecturer (Karlsruhe: State Academy of Fine Arts, 1974 first as guest lecturer, 1976-1987 as professor. Düsseldorf: State Academy of Fine Arts, 1986 professor, 1988-2009 rector; Kolbermoor: Academy of Fine Arts at the Alte Spinnerei, lecturer since 2014). - Organiser of the 1st Berlin Biennale (1974). Despite all the polemics, his eccentricity and claim to genius (who doesn't see parallels to the universal genius Salvador Dalí ?), he is today one of the most popular and best-known contemporary German artists.
