Hans Purrmann and the art historian couple Barbara and Erhard Göpel
Letters 1954-1966
Felix Billeter and Julie Kennedy (eds.)
Expected publication 2025
The painter and graphic artist Hans Purrmann (1880-1966) is considered one of the most important colorists of the 20th century with roots in French modernism, including as a student and companion of Henri Matisse. Especially after 1950, Purrmann was one of the best-known artists in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The special significance of the correspondence between Hans Purrmann and the art historian couple Barbara and Erhard Göpel lies in the book Life and Opinions of the Painter Hans Purrmann, which they published in 1961 and which remains authoritative to this day, an extensive collection of sources with writings and letters by Hans Purrmann, the genesis of which can be traced on the basis of the correspondence to be edited. Since this publication, the Göpels have been regarded as central protagonists in Purrmann research.
The correspondence sheds light on the situation of modern art in the Adenauer era with discussions on the Deutscher Künstlerbund, the Documenta and exhibitions and books on German and international artists of the post-war years.
Not least against the background of Erhard Göpel’s involvement in art theft in France and the Netherlands during the Nazi era, the analysis of the present correspondence may make it possible to reassess the thesis of “purification” raised in research (Christian Fuhrmeister: Erhard Göpel im Nationalsozialismus – eine Skizze, 2018) through Göpel’s involvement with contemporary art after 1950.
The annotated and richly illustrated letter edition is supplemented by text contributions from the editors as well as Prof. Eugen Blume (Berlin) and Prof. Olaf Peters (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg).
The BSCW Foundation is sponsoring the edition of the correspondence between Hans Purrmann and the Göpel couple.
The volume is co-sponsored by the Hans Purrmann Foundation and is expected to be published by Deutscher Kunstverlag in 2025.
The editors Felix Billeter and Julie Kennedy are art historians at the Hans Purrmann Archive in Munich.