ART AFICIONADO: Hans Hartung

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Hans Hartung

Art Appreciation

Born in Leipzig, Germany, on September 21, 1904, Hans Hartung was a German-French painter acclaimed worldwide for pioneering the gestural abstract style known as art informel.

From a young age, Hartung admired the works of Rembrandt, Lovis Corinth, Oskar Kokoschka, and Emil Nolde. He began experimenting with abstract painting at the age of 17. Later, in 1924, he pursued studies in philosophy and art history at Leipzig University before enrolling in the Fine Arts Academy of Dresden, where he meticulously studied and replicated paintings of renowned masters.

In his early twenties, Hartung relocated to Paris, where he delved deeply into the principles of harmony and proportion, including the golden ratio. At 25, he married the Norwegian abstract expressionist artist Anna-Eva Bergman.

In the 1930s, the Nazi regime in Germany condemned Hartung's work as degenerate due to its association with Cubism. During a visit to Berlin to sell his paintings, he narrowly escaped arrest and fled the country.

Upon returning to Paris, Hartung experienced a turbulent period, culminating in a divorce from Anna-Eva, which plunged him into depression. His art evolved into a more abstract form that struggled to find buyers. A turning point came when the sculptor Julio González generously offered Hartung his studio, reigniting his artistic journey. Eventually, Hartung married González's daughter, Roberta, in 1939.

During World War II, Hartung joined the French Foreign Legion and suffered severe injuries, resulting in the amputation of a leg. After the war, he was granted French citizenship and honored with a military medal.

In 1947, Hartung held his inaugural solo exhibition, showcasing his distinctive gestural paintings characterized by suspended areas of color and sweeping calligraphic brushstrokes, solidifying his reputation in the art world.