Jörg Madlener (1939 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) is a German painter, engraver and stage designer.

Early life and education

Jörg Madlener was born on September 8, 1939, in Düsseldorf, Germany. His father, Max Madlener, was a surgeon and disciple of Ferdinand Sauerbruch with whom he worked at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

Hospital in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. His mother, Hildegard Pape, was an interior designer. After receiving his undergraduate diploma in architecture in Darmstadt he continued his studies in 1960 at the Städelschule in Frankfurt where he studied under professor Heinz Battke. Afternoons he was auditor at lectures and seminars by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer at the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

in Frankfurt. In 1963 he was private student of Otto Dix in Hemmenhofen at the lake of

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

. Otto Dix taught Jörg Madlener the technique of egg-oil tempera and working with glazing. In 1964 Jörg Madlener moved to Belgium and continued studying art at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp under Jos Hendrickx.

Work

Jörg Madlener's first solo exhibition in 1965 at the Galerie Le Creuset in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

displayed a group of paintings, which were strongly influenced by the work of German painter Max Beckmann. Starting in 1975 Madlener's work was bound to large themes that he followed over years, inspired by

Robert Musil Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, ''The Man Without Qualities'' (german: link=no, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften), is generally considered to be one of the most important ...

, Death in Venice (

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

and Luchino Visconti), Gustav Mahler's

The Song of the Earth ''The Song of the Earth: A Natural History of Music'' is a BBC documentary presented by David Attenborough and written and directed by Grant Sonnex. It was first transmitted in 2000 and is part of the Attenborough in Paradise and Other Personal ...

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

. Madlener's 32 portraits of Gustav Mahler are made with a wide range of visual vocabulary from a single photograph of the composer

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

. His works can be found at museums around the globe including the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

in New York, the Albertina in Vienna, the Museum of Modern Art in Brussels and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung in Munich. Public and private collections in Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United States and the United Arab Emirates own his paintings. In 2019 and 2020, his recent works about the Civil War in Syria and other war-related series will be shown at the former Royal Stables (now belonging to

Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

) in Brussels, at the Energy Park Saerbeck, Germany (in a remodeled bunker of the Cold War) and in

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

, Germany.

Stage design

Jörg Madlener worked with many world-renowned theatre stages as a stage and set designer. He worked on following plays: * 1986 Den Haag, Haagse Comedie, Don Juan, by

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

* 1986 Bruxelles, Théâtre National de Belgique,

Les Fourberies de Scapin ''Scapin the Schemer'' (french: Les Fourberies de Scapin) is a three-act comedy of intrigue by the French playwright Molière. The title character Scapin is similar to the archetypical Scapino character. The play was first staged on 24 May 1671 i ...

, by Molière * 1977 Saarbrücken, National Sarreland Théâtre, A Midsummer Night Dream, by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

* 1964 Bruxelles, Théâtre de l'Alliance, La Ballade du Grand Macabre, by Michel de Chelderode * 1961 Frankfurt am Main, Neue Bühne at Frankfurt University, The New Mendoza, by J.M. Lenz and Mystero Buffo

Exhibitions

Notable solo exhibitions include * 2016 Liquid Art House, Boston * 2015 ICCC Woodbourne New York * 2010 Residenz Kepmpten, Germany * 2010 Transit Gallery, Mechelen, Belgium * 1985 Philippe Guimiot Gallery Brussels * 1985 Esibeth Franck Gallery, kkonookke - le Zout, Belgium * 1982

Palais des Beaux-Arts The Centre for Fine Arts (french: Palais des Beaux-Arts, nl, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten) is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It is often referred to as BOZAR (a homophone of ''Beaux-arts'') in French or PSK in Dutch. The b ...

, Bruxelles * 1981 B.P.I. Centre Pompidou, Paris * 1978 Kunsthalle, Darmstadt * 1977 Saarlandmuseum, Moderne Galerie * 1973 Oldenburg Museum * 1973 Musée des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi * 1972 Museum D'hondt Dhaenens, Gent Madlener participated in several international biennales * 1983 Biennale Sao Paolo, Brazil, Belgian Pavilion * 1981 Biennale Venice, Belgian pavilion, Death in Venice * 1981 Sofia Triennale * 1972 Venice Biennale, Grafica Oggi * 1971 International Engraving Biennale,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Jugoslawien * 1965 International Engraving Biennale, Ljubljana, Jugoslawien

References

Future reading

* Jörg Madlener, Kassandra, Herausgeber Joch, Peter, London; Blurb, 2010 * Gesichtslos: die Malerei des Diffusen; Eugène Carrière, John Beard, Jörg Madlener, Joe Allen, Rainer Lind, 2009 * Ausgewählt! Neuerwerbungen aus der Graphischen Sammlung 2000 bis 2005 nlässlich der Ausstellung Ausgewählt! Neuerwerbungen aus der Graphischen Sammlung 2000 bis 2005, 9. März - 4. Juni 2006/ Graphische Sammlung, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, 2006 () * Jörg Madlener - paintings, New York, 1999 * Jörg Madlener, Grenzüberschreitungen: Variationen zu Gustav Mahler u. Thomas Mann ; e. Ausstellung d. Bad. Landesbibliothek / mit e. Einf. von Christel Römer. In Zusammenarbeit mit d. Galerie Paepcke, 1986 () * Jörg Madlener - The mountain and the woodman’s hut, Brussels: Philippe Guimiot Art Gallery, 1986 * Jörg Madlener, e chant de la terre ; peintures 1983-1984, d'après la symphonie de Lieder de Gustav Mahler et les poèmes de Wang-Wei, Li-Tai-Po, Tchang-Tsi, Mong-Kao-Yen Paris, Grand Palais FIAC, 84 0-28 octobre Madrid, Palacio de Cristal, Arco 85, 1984 * Der Tod in Venedig: Hommage à Thomas Mann et Luchino Visconti; Zeichn., Aquarelle u. Gemälde von Jörg Madlener, Jan Vanriet; Kunsthalle am Steubenplatz, 24.9. - 29.10.1978 / Kunstverein Darmstadt, 1978 {{DEFAULTSORT:Madlener, Jörg 20th-century German artists Artists from Düsseldorf 1939 births Living people