Helmut Sturm (21 February 1932 – 20 February 2008) was a German painter. He was born in

Furth im Wald Furth im Wald (in Czech ''Brod nad Lesy'', resp. ''Bavorský Brod'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, near the Czech border in the Bavarian Forest, northeast of Cham, and southwest of Domažlice. The city is known as ''Drachenstadt'' (Dragon City ...

. From 1952 to 1958, he studied at the

Akademie der Bildenden Künste The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. After this he joined Heimrad Prem, Lothar Fischer and Hans-Peter Zimmer in founding

Gruppe SPUR Gruppe SPUR was an artistic collaboration formed by the German painters Heimrad Prem, Helmut Sturm, and Hans-Peter Zimmer, and the sculptor Lothar Fischer in 1957. They published a journal of the same name ''Spur''. ''Spur'' was subject to p ...

, which in 1959 entered the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolutio ...

. He had a six-month scholarship in

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

before returning to Munich for the SPUR exhibition in Galerie van de Loo. He collaborated with Hans Platschek,

Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...

, Jørgen Nash, Constant, Maurice Wyckaert,

Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio Giuseppe Pinot-Gallizio (1902–1964) was an Italian painter, the formulator of industrial painting, and a founding member of the Situationist International. He was also a scholar of popular culture, archaeology, nomadism, and botany.Mirella Ban ...

and Guy Debord. In 1961 he stayed with Nash at Oerkelljunga, Sweden with Prem, Zimmer and Dieter Kunzelmann. After the SPUR group was expelled from the Situationist International, they continued to do collaborative work, linking up with ''Wir'' in 1966 to form Geflecht. Sturm developed colorspatial anti-objects and had his first solo exhibition in the Galerie van de Loo, Munich. From 1970 he worked as an Art educator, developing a Child Forum with Galerie van de Loo. In 1975 he set up the ''Kollektiv Herzogstrasse'' with Prem. From 1980 to 1982, he was guest professor at the

Hochschule der Künste The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universit ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, taking over

Hann Trier Hann Trier (1 August 1915 in Düsseldorf – 14 June 1999 in Castiglione della Pescaia in Tuscany) was a German artist, best known for his giant ceiling painting in the Charlottenburg Palace. He was married to the sociologist Renata Mayntz and ...

's class. He continued to exhibit across Germany and from 1985 to 1998 was professor at the

, Munich. He died in February 2008 in Munich.

References

Helmut Sturm's obituary
1932 births 2008 deaths People from Furth im Wald Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters {{Germany-painter-stub