Heinrich C. Berann

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heinrich C. Berann, (1915-1999) the father of the modern panorama map, was born into a family of painters and sculptors in Innsbruck, Austria. He taught himself by trial and error. In the years 1930-1933 he attended the arts and design school "Bundeslehranstalt für Malerei" in Innsbruck.

Painting of Yellowstone as seen from the north.

Winning of first prize at a competition for a panorama map created great enthusiasm in him. Using his artistic heritage and new self-discovered techniques he invented a new way of painting landscapes for tourist purposes. Berann’s meticulous attention to land-surface detail is marvellous. The further development of both these panorama maps and his artistic style was influenced by lasting impressions he received during his military service in German Army in Norway and Northern Finland in 1942. The most prominent example is his trademark cloud formations.

His marriage to Ludmilla Herold in 1941 and the birth of his daughters Elisabeth and Angela also influenced his life.

In 1944 he had the opportunity for anatomical studies with Dr. Wirtingen in Vienna and to learn from the sculptor Prof. Gustinus Ambrosi. After the war he could also develop his artistic side as a painter thanks to the generous support of Prof. Paul Schwarzkopf. All his life has been split between his passion, the art, and his profession as a cartographer, as is symbolized by his sign, the balance. Since 1952 he lived in his house in the mountain village of Lans near Innsbruck, Austria.

In 1962 he painted Mount Everest for National Geographic Society.

He worked not only for National Geographic Society, he did 4 panoramas for National Park Service, USA: Yellowstone, Cascade, Yosemite and at last Mt. McKinley (the old Indian name is Denali) He was very sick, when he painted Denali - but he finished it in the age of 81 !

His daughter Renate says about him:

“

In his pictures the circle is very important, yin and yang, old and young. He was always impressed, throughout his life, from the beauty of the word, from the structures in the floor, from the clouds, from women and old wood.

He was a very modest man, he liked to laugh, but inside his heart he was very serious. In many summers he went to France, in the part of Provence. There he liked the atmosphere, the food and wine. He has a beautiful garden around his house, he worked with his own hands. He created walls and steps and planted a lot of trees, flowers and bushes. He liked doing it after painting the panoramas, which were a hard job for eyes.

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