To mark the 100th birthday of the painter Bernhard Heisig, the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig is providing a comprehensive insight into his work. The focus is not only on his works, but also on photographs showing the artist in his studio in Leipzig. The aim is to introduce visitors to Bernhard Heisig as a person, said curator Philipp Freytag.
Heisig was born in Breslau on March 31, 1925. In 1949, he began studying at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts (HGB). He later founded the first painting class there. Heisig is therefore considered one of the founding fathers of the Leipzig School of painting. The artist died in 2011.
Schmidt portrait and self-portraits by Heisig
The exhibition brings together 15 oil paintings and 32 prints in three rooms. The title of the show is "Birthday Still Life with Icarus", created in 1985. It also includes one of Heisig's most famous paintings, a portrait of the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. In 1986, the Federal Chancellery commissioned the painter, who was working in the GDR, to paint it - Schmidt had requested Heisig.
The exhibition organizers have mixed the large-format oil paintings with the smaller prints. Five self-portraits by the painter from the 1950s hang directly next to the Schmidt portrait. Freytag said that one of the aims of the show was to showcase Heisig the printmaker as opposed to Heisig the painter.
Own collection holdings and permanent loans
"Birthday Still Life with Icarus" spans around five decades of Heisig's work. The majority of the works come from the Leipzig Picture Museum's own collection, supplemented by a number of permanent loans from the Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation. The exhibition can be seen from March 20 to June 9.
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