François Willi Wendt (16 November 1909 – 15 May 1970) was a French non-figurative painter of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

origin belonging to the New

Ecole de Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...

. After self-exile from Germany in 1937, he adopted France as his native country. In France he became “one of the best and most personal painters of his generation, an artist of great purity and strong culture. His self-exactness, lack of pretension and moral sense delayed the fame he deserved". In collective exhibitions he was associated with the most famous painters of the New Ecole de Paris, particularly

Roger Bissière Roger Bissière (22 September 1886 – 2 December 1964) was a French artist. He designed stained glass windows for Metz cathedral and several other churches. Biography Roger Bissière was born 22 September 1886 in Villeréal, Lot-e ...

André Lanskoy André Lanskoy (31 March 1902 – 24 August 1976) was a Russian painter and printmaker who worked in France. He is associated with the School of Paris and Tachisme, an abstract painting movement that began during the 1940s. Biography He wa ...

, Serge Poliakoff,

Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are hel ...

, and

Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Early life ...

. He is also associated with many better-known painters today.

Life

Willi Wendt was born on 16 November 1909 into a simple family living in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany. He was awarded a scholarship at the Berlin high school “ Zum Grauen Kloster” and carried on his secondary studies until obtaining his Abitur in 1928. From 1928 to 1934, he studied at university while pursuing art on the side. He sat philosophy (with

Karl Jaspers Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...

and

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th ce ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and German literature, and

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

at the Universities of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and

Freiburg-im-Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. In a parallel direction he started drawing and painting. His first abstract attempts date back to 1931. For some time, he frequented painter Julius Bissier’s studio. His adhesion to the innovating ideas of abstract art found itself quite naturally associated to the perilous defence of democratic liberties, in particular to the artistic freedom increasingly curtailed by the rising

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime. He was imprisoned by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

for proximity to Nazi opposition, then saw his friends either imprisoned or sent to the earliest

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s. For those reasons, he left the university at the doctorate level in 1934. In 1936 he was allowed to travel in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in order to improve his knowledge of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

. However, he also worked with painter

Adolf Fleischmann Adolf Richard Fleischmann (18 March 1892 - 28 January 1968) was a German abstract painter. His late work evolved into Constructivism (art), constructivism; he is considered a precursor of Op Art. Life Fleischmann was born in Esslingen am Neckar, ...

, who was staying there, and Wendt ultimately chose to pursue painting. In 1937 his opposition to the Hitlerian regime forced him to go into exile. He left

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, where he arrived in September with his friend, painter Greta Saur/Sauer. For a while he frequented Fernand Léger’s studio and was introduced to

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...

Otto Freundlich Otto Freundlich (10 July 1878 – 9 March 1943) was a German painter and sculptor of Jewish origin. A part of the first generation of abstract painters in Western art, Freundlich was a great admirer of cubism. Life Freundlich was born in ...

, and Serge Poliakoff. He took part in exhibition groups and, until the declaration of war, he also worked as a scenery painter, a language teacher, and a journalist. As Europe became embroiled in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Wendt was in and out of incarceration. In 1938, he was interned as “

undesirable alien In diplomacy, a ' ( Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of t ...

” at the

La Santé Prison La Santé Prison (named after its location on the Rue de la Santé) (french: Maison d'arrêt de la Santé or ) is a prison operated by the French Prison Service of the Ministry of Justice located in the east of the Montparnasse district of the ...

(Paris). After his release on poet

Robert Desnos Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day. Biography Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' H ...

’s intervention and with additional support from artist

, he was allowed to stay in Paris with the status of political refugee. From September 1939, he experienced a series of French internment/concentration camps for

stateless person Stateless may refer to: Society * Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state * Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism * Stateless nation, a group of people without ...

s, first at Orléans and Cepoy (near

Montargis Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Loiret, after Orléans and its suburbs. It is near a large forest, and contains light industry and farming, ...

), then at the

Camp des Milles The Camp des Milles was a French internment camp, opened in September 1939, in a former tile factory near the village of Les Milles, part of the commune of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).Guénaël LemoueeCamp des Milles : la mémoire de la ...

, and then Nîmes. He escaped from the Nimes camp with some friends in the summer of 1940. He then took refuge in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and went underground. Considered as a

fugitive A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known ...

from Germany, he was again interned from October 1941 to March 1942 at the

work camp In the United States, Workamping (a portmanteau word) is a combination of work and camping. A Workamper combines part-time or full-time paid or volunteer work with RV or tent camping. Workampers generally receive compensation in the form of a fr ...

Aubagne Aubagne (, ''Aubanha'' in Occitan according to the classic norm or ''Aubagno'' according to the Mistralian norm) is a commune in the southern French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2018, it had a population of 47,208. Its inhabitants are k ...

, where he was incorporated as a “prestataire” in the 829e GTRE until his dismissal as unfit for health reasons. When German control extended to the south of France at the end of 1942, Wendt took

clandestine Clandestine may refer to: * Secrecy, the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals * Clandestine operation, a secret intelligence or military activity Music and entertainme ...

refuge at

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in the spring of 1943. He was again incarcerated for four weeks in September 1943 in the disciplinary prison of Chapoly in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

. Recommended by active members of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

to Professor Robert Minder of

Grenoble University The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

and P. Andry-Farcy, head curator at the

Museum of Grenoble The Museum of Grenoble (french: Musée de Grenoble) is a municipal museum of Fine Arts and antiquities in the city of Grenoble in the Isère region of France. Located on the left bank of the Isère River, place Lavalette, it is known both for it ...

, Wendt's protection was ensured when he obtained fake papers and an assistantship. He lived until the end of the war under the name of “François Aymon” in Grenoble, in nearby

La Tronche La Tronche () is a commune in the Isère department, southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration).Monestier-de-Clermont. In the

La Tronche La Tronche () is a commune in the Isère department, southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration).Gurs internment camp Gurs internment camp was an internment camp and prisoner of war camp constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau. The camp was originally set up by the French government after the fall of Catalonia at the e ...

. He also met Charlotte Greiner, a refugee from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. After the war ended in 1945, Wendt returned to Paris and married Greiner. Wendt continued his pictural research directed to the pre-war field of abstract art and joined the rapidly reconstituting artistic movement in Paris. He took part in the tradition of the Salon des Surindépendants and participated in the

Salon des Réalités Nouvelles The Salon des Réalités Nouvelles is an association of artists and an art exhibition in Paris, focusing on abstract art. A first exhibition with the name was held in 1939 in Galerie Charpentier, organised by Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Nell ...

from its foundation in 1946. In the latter, he took an active hand in welcoming German painters who, after being stigmatized and even persecuted by the Nazi regime, had continued their creative activity. In 1949, he began a friendship with Roger Van Gindertael, co-founder and former editor of the review ''Cimaise'', editor of the Parisian pages of ''Beaux Arts'' (Bruxelles), and art critic of the newspaper '' Combat''. He remained in a precarious condition: limited by his status as a stateless person, having only temporary permissions of stay in France, and experiencing fluctuations in income and resources. His participation in group and personal group exhibitions finally brought him lightning ascension and the recognition of his peers. Painter Karskaya remembers: “... he was the most authentic, the most true to himself among painters. He did not need to sign his pictures, having one of them before one’s to find them without looking for his signature, in those babylonian salons ...” He relocated his residence to the Rue Gabriel Péri (G. Péri Street), now kept separate from his nearby studio on the Rue Hoche (Hoche Street), both in the Châtillon area of Paris. At these locations he would pursue the realization of his work. He remained strictly anonymous, with the admiration of some faithful friends and the lifelong support of his wife Charlotte. In 1968, he finally obtained

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

. Since his arrival in France, thirty years before, he already belonged to it in his heart. He owned his naturalization to the intervention, support, and testimonies of Robert Minder, Professor at the

College de France A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

; Bernard Dorival, Head Curator at the

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in t ...

; Roger Van Gindertael, art critic; and painters

Olivier Debré Olivier Debré (14 April 1920 – 1 June 1999) was a French abstract painter. Biography It was following a visit to Pablo Picasso’s studio in 1941 that Olivier Debré, an honoured artist and member of the French Academy, moved from figura ...

, and

. Wendt suddenly died at his home, on 15 May 1970, at the age of 60.

Art exhibitions

Group exhibitions

*1938: “Point 38 by young ones” at the Galerie L’Equipe (Paris, France), dir.: J. Lacasse *1943: “3e Salon de

printemps Printemps (; meaning " springtime" in French) is a French department store chain (french: grand magasin, links=no, literally "big store"). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men's wear. The Printemps ...

at Monte-Carlo, he exhibits under the name of "François Aymon" (organisation: P. André Farcy, keeper of the Grenoble Museum, France) *1945 and 1946: Salon des Surindépendants (Paris, France) *1946 to 1970:

(Paris, France) *1949: “Les Réalités Nouvelles” at the Chapelle of Ampere Highschool (

, France) *1949 and 1950: “Hostudsillingen” at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Arhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

(

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

) *1952 and 1953: Salon d’octobre (Paris, France) *1954: Invited to the

Salon de Mai The Salon de Mai (the '' May Salon'') is a group of French artists which formed in a café on the Rue Dauphine in Paris in 1943 during the German occupation of France.Ferrier, Jean-Louis. (Ed.) (1999) ''Art of the 20th Century''. Paris: Chene-Hache ...

(Paris, France) *1954: “Divergences” at the Galerie Arnaud (Paris, France), organisation: R. Van Gindertael *1955: At Studio Paul Fachetti (Paris, France), joint exhibit with Appel, Benrath, Boille, Calcagno, Debré, Downing, Goldfarb, Graziani, Ionesco, Jaffe, Kaiser, Laubies, Levée, Signori, Ting, Tsingos, Van Haardt, and Wendt *1955: “Phases of contemporary art” at the Galerie R. Creuze (Paris, France), organisation: E. Jaguer *1955: “Emigrated painters” (''Ausgewanderten Maler'') at the Städtische Museum of Leverkusen,

Museum Morsbroich The Morsbroich Museum (german: Museum Morsbroich) or Morsbroich Castle Municipal Museum (''Städtisches Museum Schloss Morsbroich'') is a German museum of modern art situated in Leverkusen, 20 km north of Cologne. History A building referre ...

(Germany), with

Jankel Adler Jankel Adler (born Jankiel Jakub Adler; 26 July 1895 – 25 April 1949) was a Polish Jewish painter and printmaker. Biography Jankiel Jakub Adler was born as the seventh of ten children in Tuszyn, a suburb of Łódź. In 1912 he began training ...

Lou Albert-Lasard Lou Albert-Lasard (1885 in Metz – July 1969 in Paris) was an Expressionist painter. She was born in 1885 in Metz (then part of Germany) to a Jewish banking family. From 1908 until 1914, she studied art in Munich, where she and her sister, ...

Eduard Bargheer Eduard Bargheer (25 December 1901 – 1 July 1979) was a German painter and printmaker. His early oeuvre had a close affinity to Expressionism. Life and work Eduard Bargheer was born in Finkenwerder, Hamburg as son of Karl Bargheer, a prim ...

Max Beckmann Max Carl Friedrich Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 27, 1950) was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 1920s ...

, Francis Bott,

Heinrich Campendonk Heinrich Mathias Ernst Campendonk (3 November 1889 – 9 May 1957) was a painter and graphic designer born in Germany who became a naturalized Dutch citizen. Life Campendonk was born in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was the ...

, Henri Davring,

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...

Johnny Friedlaender Johnny Friedlaender (26 December 1912 – 18 June 1992) was a leading German/French 20th-century artist, whose works have been exhibited in Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Japan and the United States. He has been influential upon oth ...

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the Legion d'honneur. Life Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany into an ar ...

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

, Moise Kogan, Jeanne Kosnik-Freundlich, Rudolph Levy, Rolf Nesch,

Max Peiffer Watenphul Max Peiffer Watenphul (1896 – 13 July 1976) was a German artist. Described as a "lyric poet of painting", he belongs to a "tradition of German painters for whom the Italian landscape represented Arcadia." In addition to Mediterranean scenes, he ...

, Hans Purrmann, Joseph Sharl,

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, Constructivism (art), constructivism, surrealism ...

, Ferdinand Springer, Emma Stern, François Willi Wendt, and

Wols Wols was the pseudonym of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze (27 May 19131 September 1951), a German painter and photographer predominantly active in France. Though broadly unrecognized in his lifetime, he is considered a pioneer of lyrical abstracti ...

* 1955: “Six contemporary painters” at the Galerie Craven (Paris, France): Istrati, Sigismond Kolos-Vary, Wilfrid Moser, Louis Nallard, Gérard Vulliamy, and François W. Wendt (organisation: R. Van Gindertael) *1956/1957: “Pentagone” at the Galerie Arnaud (Paris, France), with artists selected by Michel Ragon, Pierre Restany, Roger Van Gindertael, Herta Wescher, and

Julien Alvard Julien Alvard (1916–1974) was a French art critic known for having launched a modern art movement that he baptized Nuagisme in which young French and foreign painters participated in France. Nuagisme lasted between 1955 and 1973. Most Nuagis ...

*1957: Invited to the Prix Lissone (Italy) *1957: “50 years of abstract painting” at the Galerie Greuze (Paris, France) on the occasion of the publication of ''Dictionary of Abstract Painting'' by

Michel Seuphor Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor (anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, ''Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in ...

(publisher: Fernand Hazan) *1958: “Ecole de Paris: Current French Painting (''Französische Malerei des Gegenwart'')” at the

Kunsthalle Mannheim The Kunsthalle Mannheim is a museum of modern and contemporary art, built in 1907, established in 1909 and located in Mannheim, Germany. Since then it has housed the city's art collections as well as temporary exhibitions – and up to 1927 those ...

(Mannheim, Germany), organisation: Pr. G. Fuchs and R. Van Gindertael *1959 “''Neues aus der neuen Malerei''” at the Städtisches Museum of Leverkusen,

(Germany): group of the Studio Paul Fachetti, organisation: C. Schweicher *1960: “Permanence and actuality of painting” with Chafic Abboud, Bissière, Camille Bryen, Youla Chapoval, Oscar Gauthier, Alexandre Istrati,

, Jean Milo, Wifrid Moser, Louis Nallard,

Ivan Puni Ivan Albertovich Puni (russian: Иван Альбертович Пуни; also known as Jean Pougny; 20 February 1892 – 28 December 1956) was a Russian avant-garde artist (Suprematist, Cubo-Futurist). Biography Early life Ivan Puni was born in ...

/Jean Pougny,

, Gérard Vulliamy, and François W. Wendt at the Galerie Raymonde Cazenave (Paris, France), organisation: R. Van Gindertael *1961: ”Artistes du 16ème:

” at the Drian Gallery (

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

) *1961, 1962, and 1963: “Montrouge Salon”, group “Line 4”, “La Vache noire” (

Montrouge Montrouge () is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe. After a long period of decline, the population has increased again in recent years. ...

, Hauts-de-Seine, France)

Personal exhibitions

*1951: Galerie Colette Allendy (

, France) *1954: Galerie Parnasse (

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...

, Germany), dir.: Rolf Jährling *1955: Center of French Studies (

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, Germany) *1955: Galerie L’Entracte (

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland), dir.: Ernest Genton *1955: Galerie La Citadella ( Ascona, Switzerland), dir.: Gisèle Real *1959: Galerie Paul Fachetti (

, France) *1963: with Greta Saur, Städtisches Museum Trier (

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, Germany), dir.: Curt Schweicher *1964: Galerie Dorothea Loehr ( Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany)

Posthumous exhibitions

*1971: retrospective exhibition of Wendt's work (

Châtillon, Hauts-de-Seine Châtillon () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The town was formerly named ''Châtillon-sous-Bagneux'', and a relic of this denomination remains in at least one road sign in Van ...

, France) *1972: retrospective exhibition of Wendt's work at the Foyer International d’Accueil de Paris Jean Monnet (FIAP) (

, France) *2006: “Réalités Nouvelles 1948-1955” at the Galerie Drouart (Paris, France)

Analysis of Wendt's work

With these brief notes published in 1947 in the first album of the

, François Willi Wendt foresaw the indomitable dynamism of his evolution. But he did so reservedly: as he defied the systematisation of

geometric abstraction Geometric abstraction is a form of abstract art based on the use of geometric forms sometimes, though not always, placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective (non-representational) compositions. Although the genre was popu ...

, at times he also resisted being tempted by the subjectivity of

lyrical abstraction Lyrical abstraction is either of two related but distinct trends in Post-war Modernist painting: ''European Abstraction Lyrique'' born in Paris, the French art critic Jean José Marchand being credited with coining its name in 1947, considered ...

. “For fifteen years (1938–1953), I have been dependent on graphism. From the beginning, I have been seeking the objective. Through this quest, I have discovered structure.” In this structure, Wendt could see the constituting elements of the pictural space, with tension and density as attributes. In a parallel direction, it had been clearly specified that the new research of the aesthetic activity liberated from the servitudes of figuration, required a deeper coincidence of the substance and form: “We must reach a synthesis where neither colour nor form nor content is absent. Finally I say: content though the basis of the banal, the worldly and the magic vanished.” And he would ponder: “Or shall we be for ever looking for new recipes to divide up plans, break surfaces, or pile on the paint? I wonder. Or is it not rather a question of: If you want to be a painter, paint?” This last question implied an affirmative answer and a choice. From this very moment, Wendt recognized the primacy of the act of painting, the supremacy of the making over the concept for the accomplishment of being in situation in time and dependent on the constants of the human condition. This is the way we must understand the artist’s thought when jotting down these remarks: “painting is not an end in itself, but a means, like music and poetry; the choice of the pictural means is minor and depends on each one’s inclinations. It may be a matter of expressing, through suitable pictural means, not only our epoch in its most intimate structure, but also in what it overtops. Our blindness, our differences, our bondages infallibly express themselves in our painting. The forces which govern us, interior as well as exterior, may not always be definable. Without exception we are confined in life like all our fellowmen: this is our ivory tower and, perhaps, our only virtue.” Van Gindertael, Roger. “Wendt” in ''Cimaise'' n°5 (April 1954), p.16 And if he had been asked what principal efficiency factor appeared in the art of our time, he would have referred to the notion of intensity. His development really constantly strained towards a greater intensity; the exceptional capacity of animation which he then expresses fully marks his very direct and varied pictural writing. He sometimes reduced the modalities of this pictural writing to a tight texture and a measured structure in order to reconcile it with the spatial unit that seems to have been his ultimate objective.

References

* “Catalog of the retrospective exhibition” organised by Châtillon-des-Arts and the commune of Châtillon (1971) - contains ** Moulin, Raoul-Jean, “François W. Wendt, the invitation to life” ** Testimonies of Minder, Robert, Professeur in the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

, Fontené, Robert and Lipsi, Morice chairman and deputy-chairman of the

, Herta Wescher, critic and art historian and Karskaya, painter ** Van Gindertael, Roger, “François W. Wendt, the man and the work” * Van Gindertael, Roger. “The choice of an art critic/Le choix d’un critique: Moser, Nallard and Wendt” in ''L’Oeil n°55/56'' (1959).

Life

Art exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Personal exhibitions

Posthumous exhibitions

Analysis of Wendt's work

References

Further reading