Recently I discovered these abstract paintings from the German artist Christian von Grumbkow. I was immediately touched by his colorful pieces as well as his expressive coloruse. Therefore I decided, in cooperation with him, to write several blogs about his inspiring and versatile art. I am sure you will be surprised too! The name of this series of paintings calls 'Appassionata' made for Barmenia Versicherungen and painted in 2008-2009. Below you will find more information about Christian as an artist, his background and for which reasons he likes to touch other people spiritually by creating this kind of art. For more blogs about this inspiring artist, see THIS LINK
More about the artist
Christian von Grumbkow is a German artist born in 1946 in Oberhausen, Germany and he is painting since he has the age of 3 years old. He is very well experienced as an international artist for more than 40 years. He had more than 300 exhibitions from 1971 untill 2018 in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Austria, the UK, U.S.A., Canada, Poland, France.
BIOGRAPHY:
Christian followed from 1966 - 1971 art lessons at Prof. Rudolf Schoofs, WKS Wuppertal, Germany. He took also fine arts lessons at the Dutch Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (NL) from 1969 - 1970. Earlier he worked at the Folkwangschule in Essen, Germany (1970 - 1980), was the founder and guitar player from the art-rock group Hoelderlin (1970 - 1977). He worked as a guest teacher in Alfter, Ulm, Witten, Vienna and London (1981 - 2010). During this period Christian also gave art seminars at various colleges / universities in the USA, Canada. He worked at the GB.Art Project at the CMS, Wuppertal, Germany and started with online tutorials with GEISTREICH LERNEN and his art school KUNST KURSE COACHING In 2009 Christian won the price Christa & Enno Springmann Kultur-Stiftung, Wuppertal, Essen, Germany.
Christian, you are an artist. What is your inner drive? Already in the days of my childhood when I was a very shy little boy I became aware of being obsessed by a diversity of creative moments and possibilities within my reach: Drawings with my mother’s lipsticks on wallpapers, a guitar built by myself and my humming of self-composed songs, role-playing games or even plasticine landscapes.
My art whether displayed in collections, public buildings or living spaces is not at all destructive or even cultivate destruction. The aim of my art should build up, strengthen / support, give more sensitivity and the viewer confront oneself partially. Art as a possibility for individual contemplation and social perception.
Bright moments at school only if and only if I could draw, paint, plasticize or play music. In this respect the inner pulse “to feel myself”, to provoke, to manipulate and change social processes - be it in a sensitive or in a somewhat provocative way - became a kind of “inner language” - or even speech - since adolescence. For a couple of years I was not capable to communicate in common “verbal” language and could not master speech as a means of public communication.
However it was this attitude which allowed me against intense opposition to train my perception and helped to develop my inner posture concerning art during the years of studying art and later on. I discovered color as “Layer of Emotions” and a form of selftherapy.
What should art, your art be capable to cause? I have been painting for many years now. Collaborating with colleagues, art historians and gallery owners a specific outlook on art has developed and is still in process. Let me put it this way: The more authentic my way of living and working - the more my art gets precise and “reduced” to the core. Orders, sales and invitations to expositions came easier and had a lasting effect. Travelling, manifold encounters, any kind of experiences were as well an inspiring moment for me as artist and as human being.
Inspiring quote Christian von Grumbkow – “Blurring”
“I don’t paint a message, nor thoughts, but I paint color ... I must struggle for quality, for the essence of color, for mood, for balance or even for dissonance. But there has to be a viewer who in the process of viewing, in appreciating the painting, can experience something, can even experience himself.“
Thank you for reading this blogpost.
Note: These paintings have been placed with approval of the artist himself.
