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 Republic, Czech border in the Bavarian Forest, northeast of Cham, Germany, Cham, and southwest of Domažlice. The city is known as ...

. From 1952 to 1958, he studied at the

Akademie der Bildenden Künste The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

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 ...

. After this he joined Heimrad Prem,

Lothar Fischer Lothar Fischer (November 8, 1933 – June 15, 2004) was a German sculptor. He was born in Germersheim, Palatinate. Between 1952 and 1958 he studied under Professor Heinrich Kirchner at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich. In 1958, he ...

and

Hans-Peter Zimmer Hans-Peter Zimmer (23 October 1936 - 5 September 1992) was a German art, German painter and sculpture, sculptor. He was born in Berlin and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. He formed Gruppe SPUR in 1957 with the painters Heimrad Prem, ...

in founding

Gruppe SPUR Gruppe SPUR was an artistic collaboration formed by the Germany, 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 subjec ...

, 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 dissolution ...

. He had a six-month scholarship in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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. The largest collection of Jorn's works� ...

, 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 Band ...

and

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situat ...

. In 1961 he stayed with Nash at Oerkelljunga,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

with Prem, Zimmer and

Dieter Kunzelmann Dieter Kunzelmann (14 July 1939 – 14 May 2018) was a German left-wing activist. Gruppe SPUR In the early 1960s Kunzelmann was a member of the Situationist International-inspired artists' group Gruppe SPUR. Kunzelmann was recognized as the "ch ...

. 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 second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, taking over Hann Trier's class. He continued to exhibit across Germany and from 1985 to 1998 was professor at the

, Munich. In 2007 he was awarded the Friedrich Baur Prize in the fine arts category. 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