Norbert Kricke (30 November 1922 – 28 June 1984) was a German sculptor. Born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Kricke was a student of

Richard Scheibe Richard Scheibe (19 April 1879, Chemnitz – 6 October 1964, Berlin) was a German artist primarily remembered as a sculptor. He trained as a painter, and taught himself to sculpt beginning in 1906. From 1925-1933 he taught at the Städelsches Ku ...

and Hans Uhlmann at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in

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 ...

. He started creating abstract sculptures from 1947, using wires and other materials associated with industry, such as steel, glass and concrete. He was one of the most important artists in the group known as

L'Art Informel Informalism or Art Informel () is a pictorial movement from the 1943–1950s, that includes all the abstract and gestural tendencies that developed in France and the rest of Europe during the World War II, similar to American abstract expressi ...

, and had close links with ZERO and

Nouveau Réalisme A ''nouveau'' ( ), or ''vin (de) primeur'', is a wine which may be sold in the same year in which it was harvested. The most widely exported ''nouveau'' wine is French wine Beaujolais ''nouveau'' which is released on the third Thursday of ...

. From 1959 he worked with

Yves Klein Yves Klein (; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein wa ...

and Werner Ruhnau, and after 1972 he taught at the Art Academy of

, where he died. One of his more famous works is the ''Water Forest'' (1957) outside the

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...

Opera House (

Musiktheater im Revier Musiktheater im Revier (MiR) (Music Theatre in the Ruhr) is the venue for performing opera, operetta, musical theatre and ballet in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It opened on 15 December 1959; it is listed since 1997 as a protected cultural monument. T ...

). He also created wire sculptures for

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

Theatre (1955/56) and fountains for the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

. He is generally known for his theories on the use of flowing water in art, shared with the critic

John Anthony Thwaites John Anthony Thwaites (21 January 1909 – 21 November 1981) was a British art critic and author, who lived and worked in West Germany from 1946. Biography Thwaites studied history at the universities of Lausanne and Cambridge. From 1931 he wa ...

(1909–1981).

Selected exhibitions

* 1959 documenta 2 documenta, Kassel * 1964 32. Biennale Venedig, 1964 Biennale Venedig * 1964 documenta 3,

documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

, Kassel * 1975 Norbert Kricke,

Kunsthalle Düsseldorf Kunsthalle Düsseldorf is an exhibition hall for contemporary art in Düsseldorf. Building The present art centre was built in 1967 in Brutalist architecture by the architects Konrad Beckmann and Brockes. They used commercially available preca ...

* 1980 Norbert Kricke, Josef Albers Museum, Bottrop * 1997 Deutschlandbilder,

Martin-Gropius-Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße ...

, Berlin * 1998 Norbert Kricke, Studio A. Otterndorf * 1999 Das Deutsche Informel, Galerie Rothe, Frankfurt * 1999 Norbert Kricke, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje * 2000 40 Jahre Orangerie-Reinz, Galerie Orangerie-Reinz, Köln * 2001 Outside the network?, Edith Wahlandt Galerie, Stuttgart * 2003 Gruppe 53, Museum der Stadt Ratingen * 2003 The Spirit of White, Galerie Beyeler, Basel * 2004 Auf Papier, Galerie Neher, Essen * 2005 MULTIPLE RÄUME (2): PARK, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden * 2006 CLASSICAL : MODERN, Daimler Chrysler Contemporary, Berlin * 2006 Full House, Kunsthalle Mannheim * 2006 Rupprecht Geiger / Norbert Kricke, Neues Museum Weimar * 2006 VIP III. Arena der Abstraktion, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen * 2006 Was ist Plastik? 100 Jahre – 100 Köpfe, Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg * 2006–2007 Norbert Kricke Museum, Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf

Works in collections

* Daimler Chrysler Contemporary, Berlin * Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen * Kunst aus NRW, Aachen-Kornelimünster * Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach * Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken * SITUATION KUNST Bochum * Studio A Otterndorf

Bibliography

: ''Norbert Kricke.'' Thames and Hudson, London 1964.

External links

Homepage
1922 births 1984 deaths German male sculptors Academic staff of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf 20th-century German sculptors Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-sculptor-stub