Nan Cuz (born Irmgard Cuz Heinemann; 6 January 1927 – 11 November 2019) was a German– Guatemalan painter.

Life

Nan Cuz was born in 1927 in Secoyocte, in the ''municipio'' of

Senahú Senahú is a town and municipality of the Department of Alta Verapaz in the Republic of Guatemala. The community of San Antonio Senahú was founded by Q'eqchi' Mayan refugees from a series of 19th-century conflicts in the Ishi Mountains of Centr ...

Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a Departments of Guatemala, department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by Petén (department), El Petén, to the east by Izabal ...

, Guatemala. Her mother was Q’eqchi' Maya, her father German. While she was growing up with her mother and grandmother in the traditional Mayan way, her father returned to Germany and married there. When Cuz was seven years old, her German stepmother traveled to Guatemala to take her back to Germany to provide her with an education. Although the original agreement was that she would be returned to her mother when she completed her schooling,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and its aftermath prevented this. Her father was an accomplished photographer and taught her the craft, but she soon moved on to painting

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

. Cuz died at the age of 92 on 11 November 2019 in

Panajachel Panajachel (, Pana) is a town in the southwestern Guatemalan Highlands, less than from Guatemala City, in the department of Sololá. It serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The elevation is . P ...

, Guatemala.

Artistic work

The indelible impressions of her childhood – the glowing, shining power of the sun, the close relation with animals, with the always fragrant vegetation, and last but not least with her mother – had left Cuz with a longing that demanded expression. Scenes and colors of her native land were deeply imbedded in her psyche and appeared to her in dreams and visions, which she began to express in her art in 1950. Cuz created scenes in which motifs from the world of myths and legends from everyday

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

life dominate. She used various techniques, including relief painting and

screen printing Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mes ...

in works characterized by intense colors. Her interest in

world religions World religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the five—and in some cases more—largest and most internationally widespread religious movements. Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are always includ ...

, especially in the Maya cosmovision and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, is particularly evident in her later works, which deal principally with spiritually inspired subjects. From 1957 Cuz had exhibitions at numerous European sites, including the Museum der Völkerkunde,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

(1960), Übersee-Museum,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

(1961), Stenzel Gallery,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(1961), Meyers Art Gallery,

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

(1963), and Galerie Commeter, Hamburg (1965). In 1968 Cuz' and Georg Schäfer's book ''In the Kingdom of Mescal'' was published, an illustrated fairy tale for adults based on indigenous Guatemalan

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. It rapidly attained cult status within the hippie movement and was later translated into several languages.

Publications

*Die Geburt der Sonne. Indianermärchen aus Lateinamerika. Nacherzählt von Harri Findeisen. Illustriert von Nan Cuz. Union Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, . *In the Kingdom of Mescal: A Fairy-tale for Adults. Georg Schäfer (Author), Nan Cuz (Illustration). Translated by Dinah Livingstone. Macdonald, London 1969 (DNB 579583201). *Nan Cuz. Magia y Emociones. Fundación Paiz para la Educación y la Cultura, Ciudad de Guatemala, 2017, . *Indianische Malerei von Nan Cuz. Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock 1968

Filmography

Brennende Feder. Sehendes Herz – Nan Cuz, eine deutsch-indianische Malerin. Production/Regie: Anja Krug-Metzinger, Radio Bremen/Arte, 2008Blazing Feather. Discerning Heart. – Nan Cuz. A German-Indian Painter
documentary film about Nan Cuz by Anja Krug-Metzinger

Life

Artistic work

Publications

Filmography

References

Further reading