Sabine Moritz (born 1969 in

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

) is a German

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

Life and work

Sabine Moritz was born as the daughter of a chemist in East Germany. From 1973 to 1981 she lived together with her family in a high-density housing area of

Lobeda Lobeda is a former independent city in Thuringia, Germany, which is now a district of Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt ...

in Neulobeda. Before emigrating to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1985, she lived in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

for 4 years. In 1988 she started her studies at the

Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

(The Offenbach University of Art and Design) at the class of Adam Jankowski. From 1991 she continued her studies at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Ma ...

(Academy of Art Düsseldorf). At first she was in the class of

Markus Lüpertz Markus Lüpertz (born 25 April 1941) is a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. He also publishes a magazine, and plays jazz piano. He is one of the best-known German contemporary artists. His subjects are characterized by suggest ...

but changed to

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...

’s in the following year. She was the last student to be accepted to his class as he had planned to lay his teaching career to rest in 1994. In the years 1991 and 1992 she created the series of drawings Lobeda that consists of more than 100 pencil drawings. In 2009 they were discovered in the artist's studio by the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and the publisher Walther König and subsequently published in 2010 by Buchhandlung Walther König. These works were shown in the Kunsthaus Sans Titre in Potsdam from August to September in 2011. Later that year the book ''Jena, Düsseldorf'' was published, again by Walther König. Sabine Moritz has been married to her former teacher,

, since 1995. They have three children and live in Cologne.

Sabine Moritz as a model

Gerhard Richter has used his wife as a model in many of his paintings. Two paintings – ''Reader'' (CR: 799-1 and 804) and ''Small Bather'' (CR: 815-1) from 1994 – depict her, although she remains anonymous through the non-descriptive titles. Both these paintings were made from a photographic original just as Richter has created throughout his artistic career. They also both allude to famous paintings: ''Reader'' draws influences from Jan Vermeer's '' Woman in Blue Reading a Letter'' (1663/64) and

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific art ...

's ''A Young Girl Reading'' (c. 1776). The Small Bather theme has an iconic predecessor in

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

’ painting with the same title. In 1995 Richter painted a series, which depicts his wife with their eldest son Moritz as an infant known under the title ''S. with Child'' (CR: 827-1 to 827-8). These works can closely be associated with the ''

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

with Child''

topos In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally, on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a notio ...

. Richter's portrait of his wife's ''Head (sketch)'' was sold at auction for US$2,33 million by Christie's in 2010.Masters of Contemporary Figuration
bei christies.com, accessed on 1. March 2012

Exhibitions (excerpt)

* since 2023
On Display. ''Neue Werke der Sammlung'', K21

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is the art collection of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, in Düsseldorf. United by this institution are three different exhibition venues: the ''K20'' at Grabbeplatz, the ''K21'' in th ...

, Düsseldorf * 2023: ''Let the sunshine in'' (group exhibition), Pilar Corrias Gallery, London; ''Under the Skin & Heart of Drought'', Pilar Corrias Gallery, London; ''August'', Gagosian Gallery, Roma * 2022: ''Lobeda oder die Rekonstruktion einer Welt''
Lyonel-Feininger-Galerie
Quedlinburg; ''Sabine Moritz'', Marian Goodman Gallery, New York; ''Raging Moon'', Hyundai Gallery, Seoul * 2021: Mercy, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London * 2020: ''Passages'' (group exhibition with Robert Adams), Galerie Thomas Zander, Köln; ''Lagune'', Galerie Felix Ringel, Düsseldorf; ''Journal Entries'', Heni Publishing, London * 2019: ''deeply unaware'', Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris; ''Sterne und Granit'', Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock * 2018: ''Paintings and Drawings'', Pilar Corrias Gallery, London; ''Eden'', König Galerie, Berlin * 2017: ''Age of Terror'' (group exhibition), Imperial War Museum, London; ''Neuland''
Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven
* 2016: ''Blumen, Masken, Schädel'', Galerie Haas AG, Zürich; ''Dawn'', Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris * 2015: ''Helicopter'' (book launch), Heni Publishing, London; ''Sea King'' (book launch), Serpentine Gallery, London; ''Schiffe und Wasser'', Felix Ringel Galerie, Düsseldorf; ''Harvest'', Pilar Corrias Gallery, London * 2014: ''Home'', Pilar Corrias Gallery, London; ''Bilder und Zeichnungen 1991-2013''
Von der Heydt Kunsthalle
Wuppertal-Barmen * 2013: ''Limbo 2013'', Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris; ''Freie Sicht / Adam Jankowski und Künstler aus seiner Malereiklasse an der HfG Offenbach'' (group exhibition)
Nassauischer Kunstverein
Wiesbaden; ''Concrete and Dust'', Foundation de 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, Belgien * 2012: ''Internationaler Faber-Castell Preis für Zeichnung 2012'' (group exhibition), Neues Museum – Staatl. Museum für Kunst und Design, Nürnberg; ''Bilder'', Felix Ringel Galerie, Düsseldorf; ''Jena-Düsseldorf'', artroom goldensquare, London * 2011: ''Lobeda'', Kunsthaus sans titre, Potsdam; ''Jena-Düsseldorf'' (book launch), Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln; ''Lilies and Objects'', artroom goldensquare, London * 2010: ''Lobeda'' (book launch), Buchhandlung Walther König, Berlin / Köln; ''The Good, The Bad & the Ugly'' (group exhibition), Cultuurcentrum Mechelen, Mechelen, Belgien * 2006: ''Limbo''. Paintings from 2005, Andrew Mummery Gallery, London

Literature

* ''Sabine Moritz. Lobeda oder die Rekonstruktion einer Welt,'' hg. v. Christian Philipsen und Gloria Köpnick, Imhof: Petersberg 2022, . * ''Raging Moon'', Gallery Hyundai, Seoul 2022, . * ''Jena Düsseldorf'' (reprint), Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König / Heni Publishing, Cologne/London 2021, . * ''Lobeda.'' (expanded edition), Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König / Heni Publishing, Cologne/London 2021, . * ''Journal Entries'', Heni Publishing, London, 2020, . * ''deeply unaware'', Marian Goodman Galerie, Paris, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2019, . * ''Neuland'', Kunsthalle, Bremerhaven, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2017, . * ''Dawn / Storm'', Marian Goodman Galerie, Paris, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2016, . * ''Erinnerungen / Memoirs'', Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2016, . * ''Blumen, Masken, Schädel'', Galerie Haas AG, Zürich 2016. * ''Schiffe und Wasser'', Felix Ringel Galerie, Düsseldorf 2015, . * ''Sea King'', Heni Publishing, London 2015, . * ''Helicopter.'' Heni Publishing, London 2014, . * ''Lobeda-Ost 1981'' (Edition of 100), Nieves, Zürich 2014. * ''Bilder und Zeichnungen 1991–2013'', Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2014, . * ''Concrete and Dust'', Foundation de 11 Lijnen, Oudenberg (Belgien), 2014, . * ''Limbo 2013.'' Marian Goodman Gallery, New York (Paris) 2013, . * ''Faber Castell International Drawing Award 2012,'' Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nuremberg 2012, . * ''Lilies and Objects.'' Heni Publishing, London 2011, . * ''Jena Düsseldorf.'' Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2011, . * ''Lobeda.'' Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne 2010, . * ''Roses.'' Heni Publishing, London 2010, . * ''Limbo: Paintings from 2005.'' Andrew Mummery Gallery, London 2006.

References

External links

* Richard Rabensaat
''Das Nashorn ist verschwunden - Kultur in Potsdam''
In: Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten 30. August 2011* * Niklas Maak
''Erinnerung an eine Stadt''
In:

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

3. December 2012 * Exhibition video
''Sabine Moritz: JENA Düsseldorf'', London, 2012

Speech at Opening of ''JENA Düsseldorf'' by Hans Ulrich Obrist
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moritz, Sabine 1969 births Living people 20th-century German painters 21st-century German painters German contemporary artists 21st-century German women 20th-century German women painters 21st-century German women painters