Egon Guenther (1921–2015) was a South African gallery owner, art teacher, print-maker, art photographer and collector. He had an influence on the development of South African art, notably the artists Guiseppe Cattaneo, Peter Haden, Hannes Harrs, Sydney Kumalo, Ezrom Legae,

Cecil Skotnes Cecil Skotnes (1 June 1926 – 4 April 2009) was a prominent South African artist. He was born in East London in 1926, studied drawing in Florence, Italy, the Witwatersrand Technical Art School and then the University of the Witwatersrand. H ...

, and Edoardo Villa. Guenther died on 30 January 2015 at the age of 94.

Early life

Egon Ferdinand Guenther (originally Günther) was born on 24 January 1921 in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, Germany. He started out as a goldsmith, following his jeweler parents Jakob Nikolaus Günther (1889–1949) and Hermine Sommer (1881–1928). In the late 1940s he opened an art gallery, Galerie Egon Günther, in Mannheim. This was the first German gallery to be listed after World War II in ''

Gazette des Beaux-Arts The ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' was a French art review, founded in 1859 by Édouard Houssaye, with Charles Blanc as its first chief editor. Assia Visson Rubinstein was chief editorial secretary under the direction of George Wildenstein from 1 ...

'', the leading French bulletin of arts, published in Paris. The gallery specialized in African art, and abstract and surrealist German art. In 1947 he married Hannelore Ingeborg Schmitt (1922–2011) and they had three children: Miriam, Nico and Thomas.

German exhibitions

The first exhibition opened on 1 February 1947 and was a showcase of paintings by German artists renowned at the time; it included: * Max Ackerman (1887–1975) *

Willi Baumeister Willi Baumeister (22 January 1889 – 31 August 1955) was a German painter, scenic designer, art professor, and typographer. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. Life Born in S ...

(1889–1955) * Rudi Baerwind (1910–1982) * Karl Kunz (1905–1971) * Otto Ritschl (1885–1976). In 1948 he staged an exhibition of German, Austrian and Swiss expressionists: *

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculpture, sculptor, and graphic designer, graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles o ...

(1887–1964) *

Ernst Barlach Ernst Heinrich Barlach (2 January 1870 – 24 October 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer. Although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in th ...

(1870–1938) *

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

(1884–1950) *

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, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire. He was the son ...

(1889–1957) *

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and Printmaking, printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Alon ...

(1891–1969) *

Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Adrian Feininger (; July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City. In 1887 h ...

(1871–1956) *

George Grosz George Grosz (; ; born Georg Ehrenfried Groß; July 26, 1893 – July 6, 1959) was a German artist known especially for his caricatural drawings and paintings of Berlin life in the 1920s. He was a prominent member of the Berlin Dada and New Obj ...

(1893–1959) *

Erich Heckel Erich Heckel (31 July 1883 – 27 January 1970) was a German people, German Painting, painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the group ''Die Brücke'' ("The Bridge") which existed 1905–1913. His work was part of the art competition ...

(1883–1970) *

Karl Hofer Karl Christian Ludwig Hofer or ''Carl Hofer'' (11 October 1878 – 3 April 1955) was a German expressionist painter. He was director of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. One of the most prominent painters of expressionism, he never was a me ...

(1878–1955) *

Ernst Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century ...

(1880–1938) *

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 wi ...

(1879–1940) *

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expre ...

(1886–1980) *

Wilhelm Lehmbruck Wilhelm Lehmbruck (4 January 188125 March 1919) was a German sculpture, sculptor. One of the most important of his generation, he was influenced by realism (arts), realism and expressionism. Biography Born in Meiderich (part of Duisburg from 190 ...

(1881–1980) *

August Macke August Robert Ludwig Macke (3 January 1887 – 26 September 1914) was a German Expressionist painter. He was one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). He lived during a particularly activ ...

(1887–1914) *

Franz Marc Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc (8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916) was a German painter and printmaking, printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider), a journal whose ...

(1880–1916) *

Otto Mueller Otto Melller (16 October 1874 – 24 September 1930) was a German painter and printmaker of the Die Brücke expressionist movement. Life and work Mueller was born in Liebau (now Lubawka, Kamienna Góra County), Kreis Landeshut, Silesia. ...

(1874–1930) *

Emil Nolde Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early ...

(1867–1956) *

Max Pechstein Hermann Max Pechstein (31 December 1881 – 29 June 1955) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and a member of the Die Brücke group. He fought on the Western Front during World War I and his art was classified as Degenerate A ...

(1881–1955) *

Christian Rohlfs Christian Rohlfs (November 22, 1849 - January 8, 1938) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the important representatives of German expressionism. Early life and education He was born in Groß Niendorf, Kreis Segeberg in Prussia. He to ...

(1849–1938) *

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Karl Schmidt until 1905; 1 December 1884 – 10 August 1976) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker; he was one of the four founders of the artist group Die Brücke. Life and work Schmidt-Rottluff was born in R ...

(1884–1976) His final exhibition in Germany took place in December 1950.

Moving to South Africa

In 1951, Guenther moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. He was described as saying "I never left Germany, I came home to Africa". In 1955, he opened a goldsmith's studio with Edy Caveng, a partnership which continued until Caveng returned to Switzerland in 1965. In 1969 Guenther sold his jewelry workshop to Kurt Donau, a Swiss immigrant, who had worked for him from 1958 to 1961.

Egon Guenther Gallery

In 1957, he established the Egon Guenther Gallery in Connaught Mansions, at 215 Bree Street (now Lilian Ngoyi Street), Johannesburg. Of the exhibitions held here, the most notable were: * Walter Battiss (1906–1982) in May 1961; *

Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef Jacobus Hendrik (Henk) Pierneef (usually referred to as Pierneef) (13 August 1886 Pretoria – 4 October 1957 Pretoria), was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters. His distin ...

(1886–1957) in June 1961 * Sydney Kumalo, his first solo exhibition in May 1962 *

, in June 1962 and February 1963 * Edoardo Villa, in March 1963 *

Maggie Laubser Maria Magdalena Laubser (; 14 April 1886 – 17 May 1973) was a South African painter and printmaker. She is generally considered, along with Irma Stern, to be responsible for the introduction of Expressionism to South Africa. Her work was in ...

(1886–1973) in September 1963. In 1963, Guenther brought together a group of South African artists: Guiseppe Cattaneo, Sydney Kumalo,

Cecily Sash Cecily Sash (1924/1925 – 2019) was a South African artist, designer, and teacher. She taught design at the University of the Witwatersrand for more than 20 years. Early life and education Cecily Sash was born in 1924 or 1925 in Delmas, a sma ...

, Cecil Skotnes and Edoardo Villa. They adopted the name 'Amadlozi' translated as 'spirit of our ancestors'. The Amadlozi Group toured Italy in 1963 and 1964 and disbanded in 1965. He moved his gallery in August 1965 to his house in Krans Street, Linksfield, Johannesburg. This new gallery formed part of his home that he designed with the Johannesburg architect Donald Turgel (1922–1999). At his new gallery in Linksfield the most notable exhibitions were: * Ezrom Legae, first solo exhibition in August 1966 *Cattaneo, Harrs, Legae, Skotnes and Villa, in January 1967 *Hannes Harrs, in July 1967, November 1969 and March 1973 *Edoardo Villa, in September 1967 and October 1970 *Cecil Skotnes and Haden, in November 1969 *Sydney Kumalo, in December 1972 *Kumalo and Legae, in April 1973 From 1960 to 1976 Guenther held over 50 exhibitions at his Connaught Mansions and Linksfield galleries.

Print-maker

Guenther was a print-maker, using letterpress and woodblock printing. He published several woodblock series. *Man's Gold, Stephen Gray, 28 woodcuts by Cecil Skotnes, 1978. *The Hunter,

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel '' The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It dea ...

, 12 metal engravings by Wendy Vincent, 1979. *The Rooinek, by

Herman Charles Bosman Herman Charles Bosman (3 February 1905 – 14 October 1951) was widely regarded as South Africa's greatest short-story writer. He studied the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain and developed a style emphasizing the use of satire. His English ...

, one woodcut and 14 wood engravings by Cecil Skotnes, 1981.

Photographer

Guenther was also an art photographer (a skill learnt as a young man in Germany), and he was hand-picked by Edoardo Villa to photograph his sculptures for inclusion in books, magazines, and exhibition catalogs. Similarly, Guenther took many of the photographs of the works of the other artists that he represented, for art magazines and newspaper articles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guenther, Egon 1921 births 2015 deaths 20th-century German photographers 20th-century German printmakers 20th-century printmakers 20th-century South African photographers Artists from Mannheim Businesspeople from Mannheim German art dealers German expatriates in South Africa German goldsmiths Goldsmiths South African art dealers South African printmakers