Heinz Anger (; born 23 July 1941 in
Karlstetten
Karlstetten is a community in the district of Sankt Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It has 2182 inhabitants.
Geography
Karlstetten is located in the Mostviertel in Lower Austria at the south-east border of the Dunkelsteinerwa ...
,
Lower Austria) is an Austrian
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
of landscapes, portraits, still lifes and figurative compositions.
Anger’s work is noted for its impressionistic atmosphere, his use of light and bold application of colours.
Biography
From 1945 Heinz attended elementary and primary school in
Favoriten
Favoriten (; Central Bavarian: ''Favoritn''), the 10th district of Vienna, Austria (german: 10. Bezirk, Favoriten), is located south of the central districts. It is south of Innere Stadt, Wieden and Margareten. Favoriten is a heavily populat ...
, a district of
Vienna,
Austria. In 1955 he started studying at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt ("Die Graphische"), the college for graphics and media in Vienna. His teachers included Professor Karl Zecho (1896–1965) and Rudolf Reinkenhof (1905–1980).
From 1959 he studied at the
Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna where he worked with Professor Sergius Pauser (1896–1970). In 1960 he joined the class of
Albert Paris Gütersloh (1887–1973).
After leaving academy he launched a career as a
graphic artist
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...
and then freelance illustrator working for leading marketing agencies.
In 1962 Anger was commissioned to paint a portrait of Viennese soprano
Leonie Rysanek
Leopoldine Rysanek (14 November 1926 – 7 March 1998) was an Austrian dramatic soprano.
Life
Rysanek was born in Vienna and made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951 the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagn ...
.
In search of his own artistic expression he was influenced by different movements during the following years; his 1960s’ paintings reflected the spirit of the
Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.
From 1970 he created a range of panels and drawings in a kind of Austrian Pop Art, oriented on the works of
Richard Lindner and
Hans Bellmer; they were shown in an exhibition in Galleria Viotti in Turin, Italy in 1976.
From 1979 he gradually developed a new painting style he today considers to be “really his”, and managed the transition from graphic artist to full-time painter.
In 1986 Prof. Dr. Hans Bankl offered him an opportunity to create drawings within the Department of Pathology at his hospital.
From 1994 Anger made regular visits to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
where he found motifs for a range of water colours and oils.
In 1987 Anger had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Zentrum in Vienna. It was followed by two further exhibitions, in 1989 and 1992. In 2000 his first solo exhibition at Galerie Tulbingerkogel, near Vienna, was staged, followed by a second in 2002. Anger's work has since been showcased at a number of venues in and around Vienna.
Painting
Heinz Anger's paintings belong to representational (non-abstract) art. Anger main works are
water colours and
lithographies
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German au ...
, predominantly representing landscapes, as well as
oil paintings which include
portraits, figurative art and
still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s in addition to landscapes.
''Anger never intended to conform with what they call "modern"; he tries to rejuvenate by referring back to primordial nature.''
''His art is characterized by his use of light, his bold application of colours such as yellow, blue and violet, and his choice of often inconspicuous motives from nature.''
''Anger is an eminent painter of landscapes and water colours artist; in Austrian tradition, he often puts a simple motif into the centre of one of his watercolours: Inside a forest, a path covered with snow, wine cellars along an alley, hilly landscapes. He finds his inspiration in carefully chosen spots in and around Vienna, in the Vienna Woods and in nature parks.''
''Strong symbolism is found in several of his paintings ... In his oils paintings Angers repeatedly used motifs such as sunflowers, lilac and peonies at different stages, where nature is often enhanced and assumes symbolic character.''
''In his search for truth in nature the artist is approaching almost Waldmüller's ideals of imagery. However, in his impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
symbolism he is close to van Gogh, Klimt
Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...
and also Franz Wiegele.''
::(Regine Schmidt, Head of the Collection of the 20th Century at
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere)
[Der Maler Heinz Anger, 1992, Pages 12 and 13, Edition Galerie Zentrum, Wien (in German only)]
Notes and references
External links
Heinz Anger HomepageKunsthandel Stock: Anger*
Heinz Anger page on German Wikipedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anger, Heinz
1941 births
Living people
People from Sankt Pölten-Land District
20th-century Austrian painters
20th-century Austrian male artists
Austrian male painters
21st-century Austrian painters
21st-century Austrian male artists
Austrian Impressionist painters
Austrian watercolourists
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni