Johannes Heisig (born 23 April 1953 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

) is a German

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

artist. His work combines the tradition of German

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

with a subjective expressionism. He portrayed several famous German politicians such as

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician (SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In the ...

and former Finance Minister

Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia f ...

. The artist is represented by galerie son, Berlin.

Life

Heisig comes from a family of artists. His father

Bernhard Heisig Bernhard Heisig (31 March 1925 – 10 June 2011) was a German painter and graphic artist. Long-time director of the Leipzig Academy (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst; 1961–64, 1976–87) and a leading figure in East Germany's Leipzig School ...

was the principal of the Old Leipzig School and the teacher of many artists from the "

New Leipzig School The New Leipzig School (german: Neue Leipziger Schule) is a movement in German painting, centred in the city of Leipzig after the German reunification. The usage and origins of this term are debated. History and characteristics The Alte Leipziger ...

" (i.e.

Neo Rauch Neo Rauch (born 18 April 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany; ) is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. His work reflects the influence of socialist realism, and owes ...

). In his father's studio Johannes learned early from his childhood on the art of painting. From 1973 to 1977 he studied Painting and Graphics at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig and from 1978 to 1980 he was Masterstudent with Professor Gerhard Kettner at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden (HfBK) where he was the president from 1989 to 1991. After his withdrawing from his long-time teaching activity there he went from Dresden to Berlin. He was invited to several residency programs at International Universities and worked as a Professor at the Dortmund University (2003–2004).

Work

Johannes Heisig is known for his graphics and illustrations and his portraits for which he can also be considered a modern court painter. In 2008 he presented his large works series "es war einmal" (once upon a time) which shows the topic of German separation both from a private and a public view in colored portraits and large black-and-white canvasses with scenes from both West and East. These artworks were presented to the public for the first time in the Berlin House of Representatives in 2008 and then in the German Embassy London. One of Heisig's favorite subjects is

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

. He created several painting and lithograph series inspired by or referring to international musicians like

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

and

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

. His large triptych "Be Berlin or: The Unifying Power of Music" shows musicians playing beside

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

on his Berlin visit in the 1960s sitting in a car together with Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer. From 2010 to 2011 Heisig created his work series 'CROW' referring to the same-titled poems by

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

Exhibitions

* 2012: "augenscheinlich", Solo exhibition in the Kunstverein Coburg, Coburg * 2011: "ÜBERGÄNGE , CROSSINGS", Willy-Brandt-Haus / galerie son / SEZ, Berlin * 2009: “20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit”, Kunsthalle, Schweinfurt * 2008: "3 berliner",

German Embassy, London The Embassy of Germany in London is the diplomatic mission of Germany in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located at Belgrave Square, in Belgravia. It occupies three of the original terraced houses in Belgrave Square and a late 20th-century ex ...

* 2008: "es war einmal",

Berlin House of Representatives The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchne ...

* 1990-1994: "New Territory - Art from East Germany", School of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

/ The Art Gallery of the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

/ Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art,

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, Kansas / LEHIGH ART GALLERIES (Hall and Wilson Gallery) Lehigh University Bethlehem, Pennsylvania / and others, USA * 1992: “TURNING POINTS: EAST GERMAN ART IN REVOLUTION", Sunderland, Carlisle and others, Great Britain * 1992: "To Those Who Begin Again-Art of East Germany", Art Gallery (Williams Centre for the Arts) of the Lafayette College, Easton, PA /USA * 1989: "The Art of Young Painters of the 1980s from the GDR", Solothurn/Switzerland * 1989: "Signs of the Times-Paintings and Graphics from the GDR", Tokyo-Nagano- Kumamoto-Kamakura-Kobe/Japan * 1988: "Contemporary Painting of the GDR", Peking, Taiyuan /China * 1986: VI. Triennale of India, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi /India * 1982: XII.

Biennale de Paris The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival. History The 'Biennale de Paris' was launched by Raymond Cogniat in 1959 and set up by André Malraux as he was Minister of Culture to present an overview of young ...

, Paris /France

Publications

* "Johannes Heisig - es war einmal", galerie son, Mihyun Son, Berlin, 2008

Notes

External links

* galerie son website
English
an

* the entir

series and information on berliner-art.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Heisig, Johannes 1953 births Living people 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century German male artists German illustrators Postmodern artists Artists from Leipzig Artists from Berlin Academic staff of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig alumni