Hans Hartung

Basic Data

Hans Hartung was a German-French painter and graphic artist, who is one of the most important representatives of European Informalism. Hartung began to study philosophy and art history at the University of Leipzig in 1924, but changed to the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Leipzig and Dresden.

• Born: 21 September 1904
• Place of birth: Leipzig, Saxony
• Died on: 8 December 1989
• Nationality: German/ French
• Studied at: University of Leipzig, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, Academy of Fine Arts Dresden
• Teacher: Max Doerner
• Similar artists: Antoni Tapies, Sam Francis
• Era: Postmodernism, contemporary art
• Stylistic direction: Informal art

In 1932, he relocated to Paris, where he got to know famous artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, and Alexander Calder.

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Hans Hartung Lithograph Print L-19-1974

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Biography

Hans Hartung was born in Leipzig on September 21, 1904. In Dresden he attended the humanistic high school, which he graduated with a high-school diploma. Already during his time as a student, the young Hartung turned to abstract painting. He first began to study art history and philosophy at the University of Leipzig. Inspired and impressed by the works of Wassily Kandinsky, he transferred to the Academies of Fine Arts in Dresden and Leipzig just one year later. In 1928 Hartung continued his training with the painter Max Doerner. During this time, it is the random that guides the painter in his works. In addition, it is the study of the tension between color surface and line that the artist expresses in his emblematic and spontaneous compositions of lines.

In 1929 Hartung married the Norwegian painter Anna-Eva Bergmann. However, since the artist's mother-in-law vehemently opposed this relationship, the couple separated after only a short time. After the painter stayed for a long time on the island of Menorca, he moved to Paris in 1932. There he met artists such as Piet Mondrian, Alexander Calder or Joan Miró and participated in the exhibitions at the "Salon des Surindépendants". In addition, the sculptor Julio González took up the young artist. In 1939 Hartung married his daughter Roberta. In the same year he joined the Foreign Legion. After several captivities, he was so badly injured in 1944 during a mission in Alsace that his right leg had to be amputated.

After the war, the painter obtained French citizenship in 1946, was admitted to the Legion of Honor, and began his artistic work again. During a retrospective of his father-in-law, Hartung and Ann-Eva Bergmann met again. They decided to marry a second time. The marriage lasted until her death.

After Hartung's several-year break from painting due to the war, he was able to develop into one of the most important representatives of Informel. He created works from calligraphic bundles of lines that overlapped and which he placed next to floating color fields. From 1949 on, he participated in numerous important exhibitions in Basel, Brussels, Paris and Munich. In 1956 he was honored with the Prix Guggenheim and was appointed an extraordinary member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.

In 1960 the painter was awarded the Grand International Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale. In the following years, works of monochrome color surfaces are created. Through a series of parallel incised grooves, a certain plastic quality is also added to the works. It is especially his handling of the intuitive and random that he now allowed to mature to perfection in his artworks and editions. For example, he used spray guns or rubber whips to throw paint onto his canvases. With his gestural pictorial language, Hartung became one of the most important representatives of Informel.

In 1972 the painter settled in Antibes. In 1976 Hans Hartung published his "Autoportrait" and one year later became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 1981 he was honored with the Oskar Kokoschka Prize. The painter died on December 8, 1989.

Four years after Hartung's death, the Fondation Hartung-Bergmann was founded in the couple's former home and studio, which exhibits their work and manages the estate, which includes thousands of paintings, drawings and photographs.

Exhibitions

Recent exhibitions

• 27.11.2021 – 01.05.2022 Breathing one’s breath – Fondation Vincent van Gogh, Arles.

Past exhibitions

• 07.12.20 – 22.11.21 Arte moderna e contemporanea - Antologia scelta 2021 - Tornabuoni Arte, Florence.
• 27.06.20 – 22.08.20 ACCROCHAGE - Galerie Boisserée, Köln.
• 14.02.20 – 01.06.20 Unsere Gegenwart – Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen.
• 06.11.19 – 11.01.20 ACCROCHAGE - Galerie Boisserée, Cologne.
• 11.10.19 – 01.03.20 Hans Hartung. La fabrique du geste - Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
• 26.01.19 – 18.05.19 FROM GESTURE TO FORM - Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.
• 04.11.18 – 06.01.19 Pierre Soulages – Noir / Lumière - LUDWIGMUSEUM Koblenz.
• 24.05.18 – 19.08.18 HANS HARTUNG. Malerei als Experiment - Werke von 1962-1989 - Kunstmuseum Bonn.
• 17.01.18 – 17.02.18 Hans Hartung - Simon Lee, London.
• 12.01.18 – 17.05.18 HANS HARTUNG - NAHMAD CONTEMPORARY New York. 

Awards

• 1957: Ruben Prize of the City of Siegen.
• 1960: Grand International Prize for Painting, Venice Biennale.
• 1967: Appointed commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.
• 1967: Honorary prize at the VII. International Biennale of Prints in Ljubljana.
• 1968: Appointed Commander of the Legion of Honour.
• 1970: Grand-Prix des Beaux-Art de la Ville de Paris.
• 1976: Honorary citizen of the city of Antibes.
• 1981: Winner of the Oskar Kokoschka Prize of the Republic of Austria.
• 1984: Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art.
• 1984: Grand Federal Cross of Merit
• 1985: Big badge of the two thousand year anniversary of the city of Paris.
• 1987: Honorary citizen of the city of Belfort.
• 1988: Honorary citizen of the municipality of La Gaude.
• 1989: Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur.

Literature

• Hans Hartung - Malerei als Experiment : Werke von 1962-1989, Christoph Schreier (Publ.), Cologne 2018.
• Hartung und die Fotografie, Eva Schmidt (Publ.), Munich 2016.
• Hans Hartung, Galerie Fahnemann (Publ.), Berlin 2007.
• Hans Hartung, spontanes Kalkül, Hans-Werner Schmidt (Publ.), Bielefeld 2007.
• Hans Hartung, so beschwor ich den Blitz. Arbeiten auf Papier 1922 – 1938, Museum Ludwig (Publ.), Cologne 2004.

Collections

Germany

• Essen - Museum Folkwang
• Cologne - Museum Ludwig
• Bremen - Kunsthalle Bremen
• Frankfurt - Sammlung Deutsche Bank
• Leipzig - gfzk | Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst
• Bonn -Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
• Siegen - Museum für Gegenwartskunst
• Leverkusen - Museum Morsbroich
• Mönchengladbach - Museum Abteiberg
• Erlangen - Kunstpalais Erlangen
• Hagen - Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum

England

• London - Tate Britain

France

• Paris - Centre Pompidou
• Marseille - Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d´Azur, Marseille °

USA

• New York City - Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
• Claremont - Pomona College Museum of Art

Canada

• Vancouver - Vancouver Art Gallery °

Australia

• Brisbane - QUT Art Museum

Brazil

• São Paulo - MAC - Museu de Arte Contemporânea

Weblinks

• Hans Hartung Kunstaspekte Exhibition and collection overview.
• Fondation Hartung Bergmann
• Catalogue raisonné of the artist