Anatol Herzfeld

Anatol Herzfeld (often simply called Anatol), born Karl-Heinz Herzfeld, January 21, 1931 in Insterburg (now Tschernjachowsk), East Prussia, is a German sculptor and mixed media artist. He primarily uses wood, iron or stone as his artistic material. He lives and works on the Museum Insel Hombroich.

Life and work

A student of Joseph Beuys[1] at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied fine arts from 1964 to 1972, Anatol was deeply influenced by the ideas of his professor, especially by his concept of "social sculpture". Therefore, telling stories, talking about current political themes, and working with his own hands became the basis of his artistic work.

Anatol also created happenings together with Beuys.[2] For instance, an action by Beuys and Anatol took place in the Creamcheese, Düsseldorf, 1968. Beuys's students, Joachim Duckwitz, Ulrich Meister and Johannes Stüttgen were shown handcuffed to a steel table made by Anatol and sitting upon steel chairs. Red and green signals, operated by Anatol from a corner of the room, directed each sitter as to when they could speak. Beuys stood in the opposite corner of the room silently making different gestures.[3] On October 20, 1973, Anatol placed Beuys, who had been expelled from the Düsseldorf Academy, in a dugout canoe, which was built by himself, and crossed the Rhine from Oberkassel, where Beuys lived, to the Academy on the opposite shore, thereby having his professor strike a "Lake Genezareth pose" - a symbolic journey to mark the return of his master.[4][5][6]

For two years, Anatol was also a student of architect Karl Wimmenauer.[7] Furthermore, he regularly participated in "ring talks" about art theory. Besides being an artist, he worked in the Düsseldorf police traffic department for many years.[8]

In 1975, he founded the Freie Akademie Oldenburg.[9][10] From 1979 to 1981, he taught art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1982, he settled on the Museumsinsel Hombroich where he still runs his own studio in a former barn.[11] In 1996, he was appointed honorary professor of fine arts by the University of South Dakota, Vermillion.[12][13]

Selected works

Awards

Photo gallery

References

  1. ↑ Petra Richter, Mit, neben, gegen: Die Schüler von Joseph Beuys. Düsseldorf 2000.
  2. ↑ Eva Beuys, Joseph Beuys: Handaktion 1968 & Anatol Herzfeld: Der Tisch 1968. Göttingen 2009.
  3. ↑ Der Tisch (motion picture). Film- und Tonaufzeichnung einer gemeinsamen öffentlichen Aktion von Joseph Beuys mit seinen Schülern Anatol Herzfeld, Ulrich Meister, Joachim Duckwitz und Johannes Stüttgen am 23.1.1969 im Creamcheese, Düsseldorf.
  4. ↑ Heiner Stachelhaus, Joseph Beuys, New York: Perseus, 1991.
  5. ↑ Studio International, Volume 192, 1976, p. 61.
  6. ↑ Johannes Stüttgen, Der ganze Riemen. Der Auftritt von Joseph Beuys als Lehrer. Die Chronologie der Ereignisse an der Staatlichen Kunstakademie Düsseldorf 1966–1972. Cologne: König, 2008, p.1012.
  7. ↑ "Anatol Herzfeld: 'Ergebnisse 64-78' ". In Das Kunstwerk, vol. 32, 1979, p. 181.
  8. ↑ Anatol Herzfeld – Künstler und Schutzmann: Ausstellung zum 80sten Geburtstag. Polizeipräsidium Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf 2011.
  9. ↑ Freie Akademie Oldenburg.
  10. ↑ Helga Meister, "Anatol", In Die Kunstszene Düsseldorf. Recklinghausen 1979, p.33.
  11. ↑ Udo Weilacher, In Gardens: Profiles of Contemporary European Landscape Architecture (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2005), p. 76.
  12. ↑ Kunstforum International, No. 136, 1997, p. 18.
  13. ↑ "Der Düsseldorfer Künstler Anatol Herzfeld ist zum Honorarprofessor der Universität von South Dakota sowie zum Ehrenbürger des amerikanischen Bundesstaats ernannt worden." See "Ämter und Würden." In Art: Das Kunstmagazin, no. 12, 1996, p. 133.
  14. ↑ Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg: Lovis-Corinth-Preisträger

Further reading

External links

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