ERICH FRANKE - BETWEEN STAGE AND PAINTING
SEPTEMBER 17 - OCTOBER 22, 2017
VERNISSAGE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2017, 11 A.M.
Welcome: Head of Cultural Affairs Dr. Felix Schwenke
Introduction: Thilo Herrmann
Guided tour: Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 5.30 pm
Guided tour: Sunday, October 22, 2017, 3 p.m.
The first retrospective of the painter and stage designer, who was born in Offenbach in 1911, in the city of his birth: Erich Franke developed abstract works using a wide variety of techniques early on under the influence of the art movements of the 1920s and 30s. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Wiesbaden under Prof. Otto Fischer-Trachau, among others, and later at the Kunstakademie in Karlsruhe under Karl Hubbuch. During his training and work at the Wiesbaden State Theater, he also began to work as a painter. Until the 1950s, he worked on various stages as a trained costume and stage designer. In the 1960s, he co-founded the artists' group "G".
Erich Franke can therefore be counted among Offenbach's first abstract artists. This exhibition provides an overview of his work phases and techniques as a painter and shows works from his activities as a costume and stage designer.
During the guided tours on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 5.30 pm and Sunday, October 22, 2017, 3 pm, Thilo Herrmann, who was personally acquainted with Erich Franke, will explain the artist's life and work. In this way, the exhibits in the exhibition are not only explained, they come "alive".