Hans Purrmann. Colorist of the modern age

Kunsthalle Vogelmann, Heilbronn
October 19, 2019 – February 09, 2020

“Porta mi i colori!” (“Bring me the colors!”) – Hans Purrmann is said to have said shortly before his death in 1966. This invitation sums up his lifelong passion for art and, above all, for color. As an important colorist and personality of integrity, he helped shape the 20th century. Highly recognized and appreciated during his lifetime, his work has only experienced a renaissance in recent years. This also has to do with the discussion about a united Europe, as Hans Purrmann was a convinced European who lived in Munich, Paris, Berlin, Florence and Switzerland.

Art history has not yet definitively located Hans Purrmann. With the aim of condensing patterns and orders from nature and transforming them into a compositional balance full of color harmony and sensual aesthetics, Purrmann is one of the first postmodern artists to exclude questions of content and present the viewer with “pure painting”.

Hans Purrmann’s connections to the European cultural and art scene are multi-layered. He was a close friend of Henri Matisse and well acquainted with Max Liebermann, Hermann Hesse and Theodor Heuss. In 1955, Federal President Theodor Heuss awarded him the title “Knight of the Peace Class of the Order Pour le Mérite for Science and the Arts”. And there is another connection to the region: Hans Purrmann lived in Beilstein in the idyllic Bottwartal valley from 1914-16, on the estate of his wife Mathilde Vollmoeller-Purrmann’s family.

The exhibition “Hans Purrmann. Colorist of Modernism” presents a work that stands out in 20th century European painting for its sensual aesthetics and harmonious use of color. It was created in cooperation with the Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, Copenhagen, and is curated by Annette Vogel, Munich, and the Städtische Museen Heilbronn.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication (German/English/Dutch) published by HIRMER Verlag, 168 pages, 20 euros, with contributions by Annette Vogel, Marc Gundel, Walter Grasskamp and others.

Further information can be found here.

Kunsthalle Vogelmann
Avenue 28
74072 Heilbronn
https://museen.heilbronn.de/kunsthalle/