Spaightwood Galleries

Paul Wunderlich (b. 1927, Berlin), professor of graphic art and painting at the University of Fine Arts, Hamburg, is a painter, sculptor and lithographer who lives and works for part of the year in Hamburg and the rest in France. Married in 1963 to the photojournalist and fine art photographer Karin Szekessy (b. 1939, Essen), he sometimes paints and makes prints from the nude photographs made by Szekessy. Wunderlich belongs to the second generation of Fantastic Realists, sometimes called Magical Realists. These artists have remained faithful to the tradition although the imagery has remained contemporary. Paul Wunderlich, the most prominent among them, has developed a style slightly cooler in temperament and more analytical. Often borrowing from classical mythology, he emphasizes the human form within a context that blends together contemporary and historical references. With cool aloofness, Wunderlich transports the viewer into a world of surreal eroticism and aesthetic symbolism. Again and again, Wunderlich spices his Fantastic Realism with a startling dose of irony. After Picasso and Max Ernst no other artist has contributed as much to the sculpture of painters as Paul Wunderlich. The themes for his sculptures and objects are closely linked to his paintings, drawings and lithographs. Wunderlich sculptures and objects combine the simplicity of an idea with the refinement of the material, and imagination with perfection in shaping something into a perfect form. As an artist, Paul Wunderlich has remained faithful to his own artistic visions. Over a period of several decades, Wunderlich’s complex and comprehensive body of work has led to numerous exhibitions in museums worldwide. In 1994-95, he had retrospectives in several Japanese museums (Tokyo, Osaka, Hokkaido, Gifu). Wunderlich has been successful in numerous international print competitions and has received many awards. In 1964, he was awarded the Japan Cultural Forum Award, Tokyo; in 1967, he received the Award Premio Marzotti, Italy; in 1970, he was awarded the Gold-Medal in Florence, Italy; in 1978, he received Gold-Medals at the Grafik-Biennale in Taiwan and in Bulgaria.

Selected Biblioigraphy: Dieter Brusberg, ed., Paul Wunderlich. Werkverzeichnis der Lithografien von 1949-1971 mit Texten von Max Bense, Hanns Theodor Flemming, F. J. Raddatz, Frank Whitford u. a. (Berlin: Propyläen, 1971); Europalia 7, Paul Wunderlich, gouaches, dessins, lithos, sculptures, 1 octobre-27 novembre 1977 (Bruxelles: Hall-Palais des beaux-arts de Bruxelles, 1977); Christian Jens Jensen, Paul Wunderlich. Das malerische, graphische und plastische Werk. Hrsg. von Volker Huber. Band I: Eine Werkmonographie. Mit Beiträgen von Max Bense und Philippe Robert-Jones (Offenbach: M. Edition Huber, 1980); Fritz J. Raddatz, Paul Wunderlich und Karin Székessy. Correspondencen (Stuttgart: Belser, 1980); Fritz J. Raddatz, Paul Wunderlich. Lithographies et Peintures (Paris: Denoel, 1972); Carsten Riediger, Paul Wunderlich. Werkverzeichnis der Drcukgraphik 1948 bis 1982 (Offenbach: Huber, 1983); Heinz Spielmann, Paul Wunderlich. Skulpturen und Objekte. 1968-1987 (Offenbach: Huber, 1988); Heinz Spielmann, Paul Wunderlich. Skulpturen und Objekte. Band 2: 1989 - 1999. Mit Werkverzeichnis (Stuttgart: Edition Volker Huber 2000).

Fritz J. Raddatz, Paul Wunderlich and Karin Szekessy: Transpositions (London: Academy Editions, 1980; English edition of title above); Women on Women. Deborah Turbeville, Karin Szekessy, Alice Springs, Sacha, Marcia Resnick, Christa Peters, Sarah Moon, Linda Benedict-Jones, Irina Ionesco, Jo Alison Feiler, Shirley Beljon, Caroline Arber (London: Aurum Press, 1978).

Paul Wunderlich (German, b. 1927), Two Torsos / Plakat (R. 251). Original color lithograph, 1965. 50 signed impressions on Rives Butten (as ours) plus a poster edition with lettering. Wunderlich is the leading German Surrealist painter and printmaker; his works have been shown widely in Europe and America. Image size: 675x505mm. Price: $950.

Paul Wunderlich (German, b. 1927), Twilight (R. 401). Original 6-color lithograph, 1971. 125 signed and numbered impressions on Rives-Butten after a photograph by his wife Karin Szekessy. There are also 25 artist's proofs and 9 HCs. This is plate 2 of a cycle of 8 "transpositions" contrasting Wunderlich's lithographs with his wife's photolithographs. Image size: 840x630mm. Price: $1250.

Karin Szekessy (Germany, b. 1939), Twilight, plate 2. Original photolithograph, 1971. 125 signed and numbered impressions on Rives-Butten. There are also 25 artist's proofs and 9 HCs. This is plate 2 of a cycle of 8 "transpositions" contrasting Wunderlich's lithographs with his wife's photolithographs. Image size: 840x630mm. Price: $650.

Karin Szekessy (Germany, b. 1939), Twilight, plate 5. Original photolithograph, 1971. 125 signed and numbered impressions on Rives-Butten. There are also 25 artist's proofs and 9 HCs. This is plate 5 of a cycle of 8 "transpositions" contrasting Wunderlich's lithographs with his wife's photolithographs. Image size: 840x630mm. Price: $650.

Karin Szekessy (Germany, b. 1939), Twilight, plate 8. Original photolithograph, 1971. 125 signed and numbered impressions on Rives-Butten. There are also 25 artist's proofs and 9 HCs. This is plate 8 of a cycle of 8 "transpositions" contrasting Wunderlich's lithographs with his wife's photolithographs. Image size: 840x630mm. Price: SOLD