Werner Berg *
(Wuppertal-Elberfeld 1904–1981St. Veit im Jauntal)
„Kirchtag“ (Church day), 1960, monogrammed W. B., oil on canvas, 45 x 75 cm, framed
Listed and illustrated:
Harald Scheicher et al., Werner Berg. Gemälde, Klagenfurt 1994, cat. rais. no. 590, p. 286
online catalogue raisonné: wernerberg.com/werk/1960-kirchtag-1-3195/57/1
Provenance:
Private Collection, Carinthia
Werner Berg and his wife had completed their studies in economics when, in 1931, they settled as farmers in Southern Carinthia. Rejecting convention, mechanisation, and belief in progress, they sought a primordial existence among the people of their new environment. Perpetually present, the painter observed them “with the detachment of the stranger and the intensity of the lover” – as noted by H. K. Röthel, director of the Munich Lenbachhaus, which dedicated a major exhibition to the artist in 1961.
At festivals and church fairs (Kirchtage), the rural population gathered, finding – free from the hardships of everyday labour – a serene, inner stature. As seen here from an elevated vantage point, the painter observed them in their interaction. High above the low-lying horizon, the individual groups coalesce for him into a “frieze of life” – deceptively mundane on the surface, yet imbued with the distinctiveness of the experienced moment. The colours and patterns of the women's attire, contrasting with the dark suits of the men, the child stepping forward, and the man walking downhill in the background, lend the image rhythm and spatial depth. For the painter, this "minor occurrence" expands into a theatrum mundi.
Harald Scheicher
Specialist: Dr. Marianne Hussl-Hörmann
(Wuppertal-Elberfeld 1904–1981St. Veit im Jauntal)
„Kirchtag“ (Church day), 1960, monogrammed W. B., oil on canvas, 45 x 75 cm, framed
Listed and illustrated:
Harald Scheicher et al., Werner Berg. Gemälde, Klagenfurt 1994, cat. rais. no. 590, p. 286
online catalogue raisonné: wernerberg.com/werk/1960-kirchtag-1-3195/57/1
Provenance:
Private Collection, Carinthia
Werner Berg and his wife had completed their studies in economics when, in 1931, they settled as farmers in Southern Carinthia. Rejecting convention, mechanisation, and belief in progress, they sought a primordial existence among the people of their new environment. Perpetually present, the painter observed them “with the detachment of the stranger and the intensity of the lover” – as noted by H. K. Röthel, director of the Munich Lenbachhaus, which dedicated a major exhibition to the artist in 1961.
At festivals and church fairs (Kirchtage), the rural population gathered, finding – free from the hardships of everyday labour – a serene, inner stature. As seen here from an elevated vantage point, the painter observed them in their interaction. High above the low-lying horizon, the individual groups coalesce for him into a “frieze of life” – deceptively mundane on the surface, yet imbued with the distinctiveness of the experienced moment. The colours and patterns of the women's attire, contrasting with the dark suits of the men, the child stepping forward, and the man walking downhill in the background, lend the image rhythm and spatial depth. For the painter, this "minor occurrence" expands into a theatrum mundi.
Harald Scheicher
Specialist: Dr. Marianne Hussl-Hörmann
