Stefan Szczesny (born 9 April 1951) is 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 ...

, draughtsman, and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He is best known for co-founding the

Neue Wilde The term Junge Wilde (German for "young wild ones") was originally applied to trends within the art world, and was only later used with reference to politics. At present, the term is used by German-language journalists to describe any group within ...

movement in the early 1980s.

Biography

1951–1994

Stefan Szczesny was born in Munich as the son of the philosopher and publisher Gerhard Szczesny and his wife Martha Meuffel, a theatre producer. Upon attending primary and secondary schools in Munich, he acquired his first training as a painter at a private art school in Munich (1967–69). From 1969 to 1975, he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

in Munich. His mentor there was the abstract painter Günter Fruhtrunk. During this time, he also attended lectures in art history and philosophy at

Ludwig Maximilian University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bav ...

and worked as a freelance art critic. Under the influence of his mentor Fruhtrunk Szczesny experimented in these years with abstract and minimalist art. A major turn-about occurred in 1975–76, when Szczesny was in Paris on a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service. The encounter there with the paintings of Delacroix caused Szczesny to rethink abstract and minimalist tenets and to return, eventually, to figuration. The break was not immediate: in 1979, for instance, he exhibited relatively abstract paintings at the Kunstforum of the

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus The Lenbachhaus () is a building housing the Städtische Galerie (English: Municipal Gallery) art museum in Munich's ''Kunstareal''. The building The Lenbachhaus was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter Franz von Lenbach between ...

; many of the works created during a stay at the

Villa Romana A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

in Florence in 1980, too, display abstract features. Nonetheless, it was as a figurative painter that Szczesny eventually gained wide public attention, in particular as the organiser of, and participant in, the 1981 exhibition Rundschau Deutschland. Rundschau Deutschland brought together works of a number of young German-speaking figurative painters who later came to be known as the

. Szczesny was one of the protagonists of the Neue Wilde. In 1982, he participated in a number of "Neue Wilde"-related exhibitions, such as "5 aus Köln" ("5 from Cologne", with Walter Dahn, Jiri Dokoupil, Gerhard Kever and Andreas Schulze) and "Die neue Künstlergruppe Die wilde Malerei" ("The new group of painters: Wild painting"), both in Cologne. From 1984 to 1988, he edited the journal "Malerei. Peinture. Painting", which offered an important forum for the new figurative painters. More than other Neue Wilde painters, however, Szczesny was (and still is) interested in art historical tradition. In a 1985 interview, for instance, Szczesny remarked: "If Cézanne paints Bathers, whom Titian, Delacroix and Courbet had painted before, and Renoir paints them and Picasso paints them again, and Matisse paints them again, then Szczesny, too, paints them again!" It is in line with this declaration that in 1982/83, the year after the Neue Wilden explosion, Szczesny – in Rome at the time, as the recipient of the Rome Prize of the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

– turned his attention to the roots of European art. He created a series of "Roman paintings" exploring the world of

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

myth. Similarly, in 1984 he created a number of paintings focusing on the ( Ovidian) theme of metamorphosis; these were exhibited in one of Szczesny's largest early exhibitions, alongside ancient sculpture at the

Glyptothek The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig I to house his collection of Ancient Greek art, Greek and Roman art, Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculp ...

and

Staatliche Antikensammlung The Staatliche Antikensammlungen (, ''State Collections of Antiquities'') is a museum in Munich's Kunstareal holding Bavaria's collections of antiquities from Greece, Etruria and Rome, though the sculpture collection is located in the Glyptothek ...

in Munich. The first comprehensive retrospective of Szczesny's work followed in 1988, curated by Klaus Honneff at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn. In late 80s and early 90s, Szczesny's work was shown in many exhibitions. The artist, during these years, discovered his love of the Caribbean, evinced for instance in his Jamaica paintings of 1990. But Szczesny was engaged in other projects, too. For instance, he painted a series of portraits of personal "culture heroes", from Bach to James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Glenn Gould and Jimi Hendrix. He also created comprehensive stage designs (e.g. for Gert Pfafferodt's production of Schiller's "Kabale und Liebe").

1994–2001

In 1994, Szczesny relocated to New York, setting up his studio at 12 Warren Street. The exposure to the New York art scene (post Andy Warhol) had an important effect on the artist. He began better to understand art as a professional business. One of the results was the founding, in 1996, of the " Szczesny Factory". The Factory is modelled on the large-scale workshops of the Italian Renaissance and Warhol's Factory. It has since allowed him wide-ranging activities, including book publications, architectural projects and collaborations with fashion labels (such as

Escada Escada SE is a luxury women's designer clothing company headquartered in Aschheim, Germany. The company is owned by Regent, L.P., an international private equity firm led by investor Michael Reinstein. The company was founded in 1978 by desi ...

). Two major art projects implemented during these years (and in the Szczesny Factory framework) were the "Kempinski Art Project" in 1998, which involved the comprehensive artistic design of the Kempinski Hotel Bahia in Estepona/Marbella; and the "Living Planet" art project at the

Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were ...

in Hanover, which involved the creation of twelve painted murals, with dimensions of H 300 x W 830 cm each, depicting a map of life and suggesting the importance of protecting endangered species. In the mid-90s, Szczesny also began visiting the island of

Mustique Mustique is a private island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is part of the Grenadines, a chain of islands in the West Indies. The island is located within Grenadines Parish, and the closest island is the uninhabited Petite Mustique, ...

. He has travelled there regularly since and has created a number of Mustique-inspired paintings. His relation to Mustique is documented in his book on Mustique (2002).

2001–2010

In 2001, Szczesy moved to

Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...

in South France. In view of Szczesny's love of nature and the Mediterranean. In taking it, he also continued the tradition of painters such as

Paul Signac Paul Victor Jules Signac ( , ; 11 November 1863 – 15 August 1935) was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism. Biography Paul-Victor-Jules Signac was born in Paris on ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

who had lived and worked in Saint-Tropez. Szczesny shadow sculpture

In 2001/02, Szczesy spent some time in a studio in Seville, Spain, where he created a number of Flamenco-inspired artworks. In 2002, a film documenting his achievements ("Szczesny – The film", directed by the Austro-American director Curt Faudon) was presented at the 55th Cannes Film Festival. In 2005, Szczesny began producing his so-called "shadow sculptures", cut from black steel plates and depicting lush vegetation and sensual female figures as symbols of life. In 2007, the exhibition "Mainau – The dream of an earthly paradise" offered a comprehensive overview of Szczesny's wide-ranging artistic output. On the occasion, Szczesny transformed Mainau island into a total work of art, creating a large number of ceramics in various shapes and sizes, large glass stelae and many other objects, including a bridge and a painted zeppelin NT. In 2008, Szczesny began work on a series of "golden paintings"; in these, Szczesny uses the powerful symbol that is gold and its associations with bounty and glory to celebrate life's beauty. In 2010, Szczesny opened his large new studio in Saint-Tropez.

2011–2017

In 2011, Szczesny began to collaborate with the car company

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

, as the company's brand ambassador. The collaboration has allowed the artist to realise major art projects. In 2011, Jaguar presented an exhibition of Szczesny's shadow sculptures in St. Moritz, on Sylt and in Saint-Tropez. In 2012, around a large number of sculptures, ceramics and paintings were shown in Frankfurt (and in particular in Frankfurt's Palmengarten). In 2014, a retrospective of the work of Stefan Szczesny is hosted at the

Palais des Papes The ( English: Palace of the Popes; ''lo Palais dei Papas'' in Occitan) in Avignon, Southern France, is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was a seat of We ...

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

. In 2017 the Citadelle de Saint-Tropez hosted a comprehensive sculpture retrospective 2005–2017 by Stefan Szczesny.

2020

The Szczesny Art Foundation Saint-Tropez was established in 2020. It is a non-profit foundation recognised under French law, based in Saint-Tropez and is devoted to the promotion, preservation and research of the work of Stefan Szczesny.

Exhibitions

Single exhibitions (selection)

* 1976 Goethe-Institut, Paris, France * 1979 "Seven Paintings",

, Kunstforum München, Munich, Germany * 1980 "Perspektiven '80", Art II, Basel, Switzerland * 1981 "Works on paper 1977–81", Galerie Friedrich and Knust, Munich, Germany * 1983 "Immagini Romane", Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy * 1984 "Metamorphoses",

und Staatliche Antikensammlung, Munich, Germany * 1985 "Paintings and works on paper", Kunstverein Pforzheim, Reuchlinhaus, Germany * 1988 "Szczesny 1978–1987", Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany * 1989 "Works on paper", Goethe Institut, Madrid, Spain * 1990 "Paintings and works on paper 1969–1989", Kunstverein Mannheim, Germany * 1991 "Portraits (Idols – Myths – Models)", Kunstverein Heidelberg, Germany * 1992 "L’annunziazione della Pittura", Arte Contemporanea Hirmer & Museo Comunale, Greve/Chianti, Italy * 1992 "Portraits", Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany * 1993 "Caribbean Style", Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Austria (later at Lok Gallery, New York) * 1994 "Portraits", Nikki Diana Marquardt Gallery, Paris, France * 1994 "Portraits of Musicians", Kölner Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany * 1996 "Eva dancing with the mirror", Fassbender Fine Art, Chicago, USA * 1997 "Szczesny, 1975–1996", Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany * 1997 Ceramics, Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany * 1997 Paintings and ceramics, Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen, Germany * 1998 „Szczesny – Côte d’Azur", Kunsthalle Emden, Germany * 1998 "La joie de vivre", Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo, Marbella, Spain * 1999 "Côte d‘Azur", Museum Moderner Kunst, Wörlen – Passau, Germany * 1999 "Painting meets photography", Fondazione Levi, Venice, Italy * 1999 "Szczesny. Côte d'Azur", Espace Bonnard, Le Cannet/Cannes, France Retrospective Palais des Papes Stefan Szczesny

Retrospective Palais des Papes Stefan Szczesny

* 2000 "The Living Planet", Expo 2000, Hanover, Germany *2001 "Luxe, calme et volupté ... ou la joie de vivre", Centre d’art La Malmaison, Cannes, France * 2003 "A feast for the eyes", Gustav-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm, Germany * 2004 "Mediterráneo – La Estética del Sur", Ses Voltes–Centre d’Exposicions, Palma de Mallorca, Spain * 2005 "Images érotiques", Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany * 2007 „The dream of an earthly paradise", Insel Mainau, Germany * 2007 Painting on photography & sculptures, Villa Aurélienne, Fréjus, France * 2008 Ceramic sculptures,

Villa Domergue The Villa Domergue is a historic mansion in Cannes. It was built in 1926 for painter Jean-Gabriel Domergue. The garden was designed from 1926 to 1936. The house was turned into a museum in honor of Domergue from 1962 to 1973, and it was subsequen ...

, Cannes, France Stefan Szczesny Sculpture Citadelle Saint-tropez

* 2010 "Szczesny diary: St. Tropez, New York, Mustique", 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel, New York, USA * 2011 Shadow sculptures in Saint-Tropez, Ville de Saint-Tropez, France * 2011 Sculptures and paintings, Kunsthalle Worpswede, Germany * 2011 Sculptures and paintings, Künstlerhaus am Lenbachplatz, Munich, Germany * 2012 "Szczesny in Frankfurt" & "Kunstgarten Palmengarten", Stadt Frankfurt und Palmengarten Frankfurt, Germany * 2013 "Blühende Welten", Schloss Sigmaringen, Sigmaringen, Germany * 2014 "Métamorphoses méditerranéennes", Retrospective, Palais des papes, Avignon, France * 2017 „Sculptures 2005–2017“, Retrospective, Citadelle, Saint-Tropez * Szczesny Les Baux de Provence

2019 "Szczesny aux Baux-de-Provence", Les Baux-de-Provence *2020 Media co-operation with ntv Inside Art: Stefan Szczesny – Painter, Magician and the sea with Wolfram Kons * *2021 "Stefan Szczesny paintings and sculptures under the sun of Saint-Tropez", Salle Jean Despas *2022 "Szczesny Art Project", Grimaud *2022 "Kitz Alps Art Project", December 27, 2022 - April 23, 2023, Kitzbühel, Austria *2023 Lavoir Vasserot, May 4–10, Saint-Tropez *2023 "Szczesny: Sailing #Art4GlobalGoals", June 9–11, 2023, Geneva *2023 "Szczesny Painting Paradise", July 1 - September 3, 2023, Kunsthaus Artes, Berlin

Group exhibitions (selection)

* 1976 "Les Grands et les Jeunes", Petit Palais, Paris, France * 1980 Jürgen Ponto Foundation, Frankfurt am Main, Germany * 1980 XIIth Festival International de la Peinture, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France * 1980 "Art and critics", Kunstverein München, Munich, Germany * 1981 "Rundschau Deutschland", Cologne and Munich, Germany * 1982 "5 aus Köln" (mit Walter Dahn, Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Gerard Kever und Andreas Schulze), Six Friedrich Galerie, Munich, Germany * 1982 "Die neue Künstergruppe: Wilde Malerei" (mit Anzinger, Dahn, Dokoupil), Im Klapperhof, Cologne, Germany * 1982 "Variationen und Sequenzen", Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf, Germany * 1984 "Zwischenergebnis: Neue Deutsche Malerei", Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Johanneum Graz, Austria * 1987 "Skulpturen von Malern", Kunstverein Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany * 1987 "Beelden van Schilders", Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo, Netherlands * 1987 "Made in Cologne", DuMont Kunsthalle, Cologne, Germany * 1987 "A Propos de dessin" (with Allington, Fletcher, Kounellis et al. ), Maeght Gallery, Paris, France * 1991 "A Dialogue of Images", Contemporary American and German Painting, Galerie Pfefferle, Munich, Germany * 1991 "Artists support Roma", Anzinger, Dahn, Dokoupil, Kasseböhmer, Szczesny, Trockel, Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne, Germany * 1998 Venezia Aperto Vetro – International New Glass, 16. Oktober, Venice, Italy * 1998 "Elvira Bach & Stefan Szczesny", Vetri e Dipinti – Paintings und Glas Sculptures, Galeria Luchetta, Murano (Venedig) * 1998 "CologneKunst", Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, Germany * 2000 "Il Paradiso", Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Linz, Austria * 2000 "De la couleur et du feu", Céramiques d‘artistes de 1885 à nos jours, Musée de la Faïence, Château Pastré, Marseille, France * 2002 "paper art 8: Turbulences in Paper", Leopold Hoesch Museum, Düren, Germany * 2007 Art Seasons Cape Town, 4.2 -4.3, Cape Town, South Africa * 2010 „Stilleben", Stefan Szczesny and Elvira Bach, Galerie Voigt, Nuremberg, Germany * 2014 "De l’expressivité primitive au regard inspiré", Centre d’art La Malmaison, Cannes, France

Bibliography

Publications by Stefan Szczesny (selection)

* (ed.) Malerei. Painting. Peinture (Art journal), Edition Pfefferle, 1984–88 * (ed.) Maler über Malerei, DuMont, Cologne 1989

Publications about Stefan Szczesny (selection)

* 1981: Doris Schmidt, "Die zornigen Dreißigjährigen" (about Rundschau Deutschland), Süddeutsche Zeitung, 14/15 March 1981 * 1981: Helmut Schneider, "Pubertierende Malerei" (about Rundschau Deutschland), Die Zeit, 20 March 1981 * 1981: Wolfgang Max Faust, "'Du hast keine Chance. Nutze Sie!' With it and against it. Tendencies in recent German art", in Artforum International, September 1981 * 1984: Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen, "Erotisches Spiel mit dem Schattenmann", art 8/1984 * 1985: Hanns Theodor Flemming, "Szczesny: Badende", Weltkunst 12 (Juni 1985) * 1992: Donald Kuspit, "Stefan Szczesny – DuMont Hall", Artforum 11/1992 * 1995: Marie-Luise Syring, "La peinture au tournant", artpress spécial No. 16 * 1997: Peter Schmitt, "Stefan Szczesny – Gefäße und Skulpturen", Neue Keramik 11/1997 * 2005: Ruth Händler, "Den Blumenstrauß malen", Handelsblatt 25–27 February 2005 * 2014: Patrick Le Fur, "Stefan Szczesny – La joie de vivre et de créer", Art Passion No. 38

Books and exhibition catalogues (selection)

* 1988: Klaus Honnef et al. (ed.), ''Stefan Szczesny. Bilder 1978–1987'', Rheinland Verlag, Cologne, * 1991: Wilfried Dickhoff (ed.), ''Szczesny. Portraits 1989–1991. Idole – Mythen – Leitbilder'', Harenberg Verlag, * 1995: Donald Kuspit, ''Szczesny''. DuMont Kunstbuchverlag, Cologne 1995, * 1997: ''Szczesny. Skulpturen und Keramik'', exhibition catalogue, Gerhard Marcks-Haus, Bremen, * 1998: Achim Sommer (ed.) ''Szczesny. Côte d'Azur'', exhibition catalogue, Kunsthalle Emden, Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern * 2000: ''Szczesny, The Living Planet'', WWF/Expo 2000, Szczesny Factory, Cologne, * 2001: Frédéric Ballester (ed.), ''Szczesny. Luxe, calme et volupté ... ou la joie de vivre'', exhibition catalogue, Centre d'art La Malmaison, Cannes * 2002: ''Szczesny. Mustique'', teNeues Verlag, Kempen, * 2004: Szczesny. Catalogue raisonné of prints, 1981–2003, Szczesny Factory & Publishing GmbH Berlin, Berlin, * 2005:

Rolf Lauter Rolf Dieter Lauter (born December 3, 1952, in Mannheim) is a German art historian, curator, and art advisor. Early years Lauter already worked during high school at Johann-Sebastian-Bach Gymnasium (1963–1970) as Assistant Curator and from 197 ...

(ed.), ''Szczesny. Images érotiques'', Edition Braus im Wachter Verlag, Cologne, * 2007: Andreas Lück (ed.), ''Szczesny Insel Mainau. Ein Traum vom irdischen Paradies'', Prestel Verlag, Munich, * 2009: Andreas Lück (ed.), ''Szczesny. Saint-Tropez'', Szczesny Factory & Publishing GmbH Berlin, Berlin, * 2011: Frédéric Ballester, ''Szczesny. Méditerranée. L'esprit du sud'', Szczesny Factory & Publishing & Gallery GmbH Berlin, Berlin, 2011, * 2012: Donald Kuspit, ''Szczesny: Neue Wilden works from the 80s.'' Szczesny Factory & Publishing GmbH Berlin, Berlin, * 2014: ''Szczesny. Métamorphoses méditerranénnes'', exhibition catalogue, Palais des Papes, Avignon, Szczesny Factory & Publishing GmbH Berlin, Berlin, * 2015: ''Szczesny. Best of Saint-Tropez'', Szczesny Factory & Publishing GmbH Berlin, Berlin,

References

External links

* * http://www.szczesnyfactory.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Szczesny, Stefan 1951 births 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century German male artists Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni German male sculptors Living people German modern painters 20th-century German sculptors