Gus Heinze (born May 1, 1926 in Bremen,

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 an American

photorealist Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term ca ...

painter.

Early work

From 1947-1950, Heinze studied under Robert Weaver, Howard Trafton, and Robert Ward Johnson at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

and the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

in New York. During the 1950s and 1960s he worked as a freelance

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of prom ...

ist on Madison Avenue. In 1970 he began his career as a photorealist painter in Bondville, Vermont; many of his paintings from this period depict parts of automobiles and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s in close-up.

"Abstract realism"

In 1978 Heinze relocated to Marin County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and began exploring more diverse subjects. He increasingly moved toward storefront-window and city scenes, in a style that he calls "abstract realism," where the subject is real but the point of view and composition give the painting an abstract quality — resulting in a kind of reverse ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

''. As his works can appear half-real, half-abstract, it is not surprising that the artist himself describes abstract realism as "a total oxymoron." In addition to his urban subjects, Heinze has also painted dilapidated farm equipment such as tractors and water pumps, and old trains and locomotive engines; in ''Exactitude: Hyperrealist Art Today,'' John Russell Taylor writes that "Heinze is fascinated by decaying machinery left behind as the detritus of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The forms are powerful, if inscrutable." He has also done series of paintings depicting rocky cliffsides, vineyard grapes, and streams; much of his subject matter is characterized by complex reflections off glass or water, intricate foliage, and deep background blacks with saturated colors in the foreground. In ''Photorealism at the Millennium,'' Louis K. Meisel writes that Heinze "has not settled into any particular subject matter or point of view. This makes his work less distinctive and recognizable than that of other photorealists, but it also provides him with an added degree of freedom." Heinze's paintings have been featured in the books ''The Martini'' and ''The Cigar,'' both by Barnaby Conrad III. In 1999 he began collaborating with

Magnolia Editions Magnolia Editions, also known as Magnolia Tapestry Project and Magnolia Press, was founded in 1981 and is a fine art studio and printshop, located in Oakland, California. Magnolia Editions publishes fine art projects, including unique and editions w ...

to produce lithographic reproductions.

Solo exhibitions since 1995

* 2011 — Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2009 — Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2006 — Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2004 — David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan * 2004 — Plus One Gallery, London, UK * 2004 — Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2003 — Modernism, San Francisco * 2002 — Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 1999 — Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California * 1998 — Modernism, San Francisco * 1997 — Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California * 1996 — Modernism, San Francisco * 1995 — Galerie Redman, Berlin, Germany

Group exhibitions since 2005

* 2010 — "Expansion," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2008 — "Contemporary American Realism: 2008 Biennial," Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana * 2008 — "Unforeseen Reflections," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2008 — "SPF 20 — Shades of Summer," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2007 — "Culinary Arts," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2007 — "Structure," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2006 — "Summer Suite," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2005-6 — "Majestic Tapestries of Magnolia Editions," Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California * 2005 — "Contemporary American Realism VIII," MA Doran Gallery, Tulsa, Oklahoma * 2005 — "Personal Places," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2005 — "Winter in Blue," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2005 — "Industrial Landscapes in Contemporary Painting," Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York * 2005 — "21st Century Realism," General Electric Company Corporate Art Program, Fairfield, Connecticut

Selected public collections

* Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Los Angeles * Bank of America World Headquarters, San Francisco * Chase Manhattan Bank, New York * Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Oakland, California * Dean Witter Reynolds, San Francisco * GTE Corporation, Thousand Oaks, California * Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Los Angeles * Kaiser Permanente, Fontana, California * Transamerica Corporation, Los Angeles

References

External links

"Gus Heinze: Means of Entry" at Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery

Gus Heinze at Modernism

Gus Heinze on Artnet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinze, Gus 1926 births 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters Living people Photorealist artists German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male artists