Max Uhlig
“I find interest in things that become unfamiliar when looked at for a long time. This gives me a freedom that is far removed from conventional sight.”
Paintings &
watercolours
Dense, vibrating dots, dancing meshes of lines, glowing colour. Large formats. Max Uhlig’s paintings are immediate, condensing all previous experience into the now. He paints what he sees in front of him, seeking confrontation with the object – and in doing so achieves intimacy and intensity.
Painting &
glass
Vine-like lines ascend the glass, with even the frames of the Gothic chancel windows barely able to contain the grisailles. They are counterpointed by the vibrancy and force of the fiery and earthy tones on the light-flooded windows of the south façade – it is here, at the Johanniskirche in Magdeburg, that Max Uhlig has created his magnum opus.
9 July 2022 Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany9 July 2022 Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany9 July 2022 Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany9 July 2022 Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany9 July 2022 Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Exhibitions
1 March bis
13 April 2024
Dessau
Die Ausstellung “Max Uhlig: Sehnsucht Provence – Bildnisse vis-à-vis” des Anhaltischen Kunstvereins in der Orangerie der Anhaltischen Gemäldegalerie Dessau zeigt Gemälde, die zwischen 1991 und 2009 rund um das Haus des Künstlers im Süden Frankreichs entstanden sind.
25 June to
24 July 2022
Kaiserslautern
The gallery exhibition MAX UHLIG: DIE ERZEICHNETE WELT at Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern (mpk) was held in honour of the artist’s 85th birthday. In a gesture of thanks for a donation recently received from the artist, the mpk exhibited its eight Uhlig drawings for the first time.
16 June to
4 July 2022
Dresden
The Sächsische Akademie der Künste in Dresden marked the birthday of Max Uhlig with the exhibition Der Rhythmus der Linie – Zeichnungen von Max Uhlig, which focused on the rhythm of lines in the artist’s drawings and featured large-format wash drawings and watercolours created on traditional Japanese and deckle-edged paper using charcoal, ink brush and quill.
12 March to
8 May 2022
Kaiserslautern
The exhibition Vom Zauber der Handbewegung. Eine Geschichte der Zeichnung im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert at Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern (mpk) used outstanding examples to examine the rich variety of techniques and forms of expression used in the field of drawing.
18 December 2021 to
27 February 2022
Cottbus
Rausch der Bilder. Die Sammlung Chagas Freitas – Art from the GDR and its journey to Brazil
Dieselkraftwerk at Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst.
28 August to
25 September 2021
Chemnitz
Max Uhlig. An exhibition on the occasion of the Dresden-based artist winning the Kunstpreis zu Ehren von Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (an international art prize awarded in commemoration of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff).
2 April to
30 November 2019
Düsseldorf
An exhibition of masterpieces from the Kempf Collection at the Kunstpalast.
Biography
Max Uhlig is a painter, draughtsman and graphic artist. He ranks as one of Germany’s most important contemporary artists – and one of the few still devoted to plein air painting. Born in Dresden in 1937, and having remained in the city to this day, Max Uhlig has never bowed to an aesthetic or art-political diktat. The GDR was a difficult environment for artists, yet Uhlig stood resolutely by his creative principles throughout. After the Wall fell, Max Uhlig established himself in the international art world and was Professor of Painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden. He is the recipient of numerous national and international prizes and his work is represented at museums and in collections throughout the world.
1955 – 1960
Student at Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden under Hans Theo Richter and Max Schwimmer
1961 – 1963
Masterclass student at Deutsche Akademie der Künste in Berlin under Hans Theo Richter
1966 – 1979
Work as a block printer, specializing in lithographs and etchings
1973 – 2010
Working visits to the Erzgebirge, the Mecklenburg region and southern France
1995 – 2002
Professor at Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Dresden, leading classes in painting and artistic design
1996
Appointment as a founding member of Sächsische Akademie der Künste
1997 – 2002
Member of the jury for the Villa Romana Prize, Florence (Italy)
2011 – 2017
Design and realisation of glass windows for the Johanniskirche in Magdeburg
2018
Donation of numerous works of art as well as the artist’s place of residence and work to Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen (the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony), founding of the Max Uhlig Haus in Dresden as an international artist’s residence
2021
Glass windows for the prayer room at the St. Josef Hospiz in Torgau
2022
Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Prizes and honours (selection):
1987
Käthe Kollwitz Prize awarded by the Akademie der Künste der DDR, Berlin
1991
2nd Prize at the 21st Bienal de São Paulo (Brazil)
1992
gold medal at the 10th Norske Internasjonale Grafikk Triennale, Fredrikstad (Norway)
1998
Hans Theo Richter Prize, Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony
2003
Kunstpreis (Art Prize) awarded by the City of Dresden
2005
Artists’ Choice Prize at Die Große Kunstausstellung NRW, Düsseldorf
2020
Kunstpreis zu Ehren von Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (an international art prize awarded in commemoration of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff), Chemnitz
2022
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Contact
Galleries
Döbele Kunst Mannheim
Leibnizstraße 26
68165 Mannheim
Germany
www.doebele-kunst.de
Galerie Alte Schule Ahrenshoop
Dorfstraße 16
18347 Ostseebad Ahrenshoop
Germany
www.galerie-alte-schule-ahrenshoop.de
Galerie Brusberg
Friedbergstraße 29
14057 Berlin
Germany
www.galerie-brusberg.de