LAND OF LEGENDS – The North German Realists in Brittany / LAND DER LEGENDEN – Die Norddeutschen Realisten in der Bretagne
On 1 August 1964, the Breton city of Brest and the state capital of Kiel signed the twinning document. The 60th anniversary of this town twinning was reason enough for the group of North German Realists to make their way to Brittany and capture the unconventional, rugged Breton landscape on site with brush and colour on various painting surfaces.
Margreet Boonstra, Brigitta Borchert, Tobias Duwe, Ulrich Gleiter (guest), Janko Göttlicher (guest), André Krigar, Mathias Meinel, Lars Möller, Hermann Reimer (guest), Frank Suplie, Till Warwas and Corinna Weiner present the painterly beauty of this western French region in this exhibition. It is the striking rock formations of the coastline, the colourful fishing boats and the idiosyncratic buildings that have inspired the artists to paint – and not just at this time.
Gorse, wild flowers and the deep green of the landscape – which contrasts strongly with the colour of the water – catch the eye and are captured. And although some of the motifs are the same, each painting is created in its own unique style. The North German Realists group is an open formation that has existed for over 30 years. There are individual artistic developments within this community. What unites these artists, however, apart from open-air painting, is ‘painting by sight’. This is how Nikolaus Störtenbecker (1940-2022), the long-time initiator and organiser of many plein airs, publications and exhibitions, put it. The North German Realists and their guests spent a few days or weeks at various locations in Brittany between June 2022 and July 2023.
They organised their painting residencies there themselves. The initiator of this project was Till Warwas. He simply wanted to paint in this special region and, like the others, stood outside at the easel in all weathers to capture what he saw in a recognisable way. But it is ‘It is not pure recognisability, no matter how virtuosically successful, that makes a work of art. The more that is inherent, must be inherent, in every painting goes back to the individual view of each artist, to the unrepeatable moment and a good deal of artistic freedom,’ says Katja Pourshirazi, director of the Overbeck Museum in Bremen, in her catalogue contribution to the exhibition (ars borealis 51, 2024, published by the Sparkassenstiftung S-H, p.8).
Each painting shown here, whether in oil, tempera or watercolour, has its own mood, its own character, its own style.
Different times of day can be traced, differentiated lighting conditions come to the fore, narrow and wide compositions, interesting perspectives can be discovered.
This exhibition makes you want to take a trip to Brittany yourself and explore the places where the land ends and the sea begins. If you can’t stay away that long, you have the opportunity to see more works by the North German realists from Brittany at the Bürgergalerie der Förde Sparkasse in Kiel (Lorentzendamm 28-30, during opening hours).
The catalogue is available in the museum shop.
Cover picture (detail): Till Warwas, Le Palais, in the harbour (Belle-Île, Brittany), 2023, oil on canvas, photo: Till Warwas
www.kuenstlermuseumheikendorf.eu
