Ludwig Merwart

Ludwig Merwart (September 1, 1913 in Vienna, Austria; † July 13, 1979 Vienna) was an influential Austrian painter and graphic artist. He is an important representative of abstract expressionism and was a major force in graphic arts and prints, especially after World War II. His work belongs to the most significant and interesting contributions to graphic arts in Austria to this day.

Merwart’s unique technique of iron etching attracted great attention in the 50s and 60s and 70s. 1959 he exhibited his work at the documenta 2 in Kassel (Germany) and at the V. Biennale de São Paulo (Brasil), the following year at the International Graphic Biennale in Cincinnati (Ohio) and the Tate Gallery in London (Great Britain).

“These prints rung from iron, acid and color, radiate tranquility, confidence and creativity. The adventure of a method reaching back to the very roots and origins of the creative impulse have here captured a phenomenon, which, independent of the process of realization, afford the viewer an experience of pronounced aesthetic intensity.” (Dr. Wilhelm Mrazek, Former Director of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria)

Contents

Work

His richly varied oeuvre began with complex, Tashist (Tachisme) paintings, later evolved into nearly monochrome panels, and ended with spacious, geometric compositions. Merwart's friend and companion Peter Baum structures Merwart's work in three distinct periods:

'Informal Art (art informel)': Merwart's early iron etchings and his oil paintings from between 1958 and 1960/61 are among the highest quality examples of Austrian Informal Art. This is perhaps the main reason why they were represented at the Kassel documenta in 1959.

'Mediative paintings': Around the mid-1960s, color dominated Merwart's works. For the most part painted in landscape format, they concentrate on the subtle escalation of the presence of color, applied in many layers and with extremely delicate overpainting. They radiate calm and equilibrium are compared with the work of Mark Rothko and Gotthard Graubner.

Mutations – iron etchings and acrylic paintings: From a temporal perspective, this last phase spanned at least one and a half decades. In the second half of the 1960s, the almost complete monochromacity of Merwart's earlier works was loosened up with a stronger gesture and subsequently infused with a geometric, underlying form. Radical reduction to an unprecedented degree, along with a commitment to form, became increasingly prominent in the artist's work. Similarly powerful as his approach to color, his experimentation with plate elements produced iron etchings that are unequalled in their precision. In painting, Merwart turned away from oil colors for technical reasons and used acrylics instead.

Exhibitions

(sample of recent years)

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Publications

References

External links