Günther C. Kirchberger (22 August 1928;

Kornwestheim Kornwestheim (; ) is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about north of Stuttgart, and south of Ludwigsburg. History Origins and Development Kornwestheim's history spans over 1200 years, first ...

– 5 April 2010;

Göppingen Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

) was 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 professor. He was a Hard Edge painter and a close friend to

Lawrence Alloway Lawrence Reginald Alloway (17 September 1926 – 2 January 1990) was an English art critic and curator who worked in the United States from 1961. In the 1950s, he was a leading member of the Independent Group in the UK and in the 1960s was an i ...

. Together with Georg Karl Pfahler Kirchberger was the founder of the ''gruppe 11''.

Life

Kirchberger studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart from 1950-1954 where he came in close contact with abstract painter

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 ...

. In 1956 he went to London and became friends with

, Denis Bowen and

Ralph Rumney Ralph Rumney (5 June 1934 – 6 March 2002) was an English artist, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, where his father was an Anglican vicar. In 1957 lifelong conscientious objector Rumney—he evaded National Service by going on the run in continen ...

. Back in Stuttgart, he founded ''gruppe 11'' (''group 11'') together with Georg Karl Pfahler. The group had exhibitions in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Brussel, Rome and London in 1957-59. In 1959 his art shifted from Art informel to color forms. In 1960 he comes in contact with the philosopher

Max Bense Max Bense (7 February 1910 in Strasbourg – 29 April 1990 in Stuttgart) was a German philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science, logic, aesthetics, and semiotics. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art, an ...

and his circle, and 1964 he finally becomes a pure Hard Edge painter. Since 1964 he taught at the ''Werkkunstschule'' (School of Applied Arts) in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

and began working with so called ''do-it-yourself'' paintings. One of his students was the later star photographer

Peter Lindbergh Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director. He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to phot ...

. Since 1996 Kirchberger lived in

Bad Boll Bad Boll () is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History In 1321, the County of Württemberg purchased title over Bad Boll and came to possess it ''de jure'', but it was '' de facto'' still controlled b ...

, near

. He died in Göppingen in 2010. His estate is located at Schloss Filseck near Göppingen, where ''The G.C. Kirchberger Archives'' (Supported by ''The Schloss Filseck Foundation'') began his work in 2017

Schloss Filseck Eingangstor

Literature

* Stephan Geiger: ''Der kühne Vorstoß ins Internationale – zum Werk des Stuttgarter Avantgardisten Günther C. Kirchberger''. In: freie geste – strenge form. günther c. kirchberger zum 80. geburtstag. Ausst.-Kat. Singen 2008, S. 5-106. * Irmgard Sedler (Hrsg.): ''Günther C. Kirchberger – IM FOKUS'', Stadt Kornwestheim, Museum im Kleihues-Bau 2013, . * Stephan Geiger: ''Günther C. Kirchberger – Eine Schlüsselfigur der Stuttgarter Avantgarde'' (Heft 1 Schriftenreihe des Archivs G.C. Kirchberger), Galerie im Ostflügel, Schloss Filseck 2018, . * Stephan Geiger: ''Günther C. Kirchberger und die gruppe 11 – Der Aufbruch ins Internationale'' (Heft 2 Schriftenreihe des Archivs G.C. Kirchberger), Galerie im Ostflügel, Schloss Filseck 2018, .

References

Obituary

External links

* ttp://www.stuttgarter-schule.de/kirchberger.htm Werks- und Ausstellungsverzeichnis bei der Stuttgarter Schule(1961 bis 1992)
Artikel über Kirchberger von der Stuttgarter Schule
(1992)

(1928 bis 1998)
Artist page, Galerie Geiger, Constance

Artfacts
1928 births 2010 deaths People from Ludwigsburg (district) People from the Free People's State of Württemberg 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century German male artists State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart alumni {{Germany-painter-stub