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Ludwig Merwart (September 1, 1913 in Vienna, Austria; † July 13, 1979 Vienna) was an influential Austrian painter and graphic artist. He is an important representative of abstract expressionism and was a major force in graphic arts and prints, especially after World War II. His work belongs to the most significant and interesting contributions to graphic arts in Austria to this day.

Merwart’s unique technique of iron etching attracted great attention in the 50s and 60s and 70s. 1959 he exhibited his work at the documenta 2 in Kassel (Germany) and at the V. Biennale de São Paulo (Brasil), the following year at the International Graphic Biennale in Cincinnati (Ohio) and the Tate Gallery in London (Great Britain).

“These prints rung from iron, acid and color, radiate tranquility, confidence and creativity. The adventure of a method reaching back to the very roots and origins of the creative impulse have here captured a phenomenon, which, independent of the process of realization, afford the viewer an experience of pronounced aesthetic intensity.” (Dr. Wilhelm Mrazek, Former Director of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria)

Ludwig Merwart

Work

His richly varied oeuvre began with complex, Tashist (Tachisme) paintings, later evolved into nearly monochrome panels, and ended with spacious, geometric compositions. Merwart's friend and companion Peter Baum structures Merwart's work in three distinct periods:

'Informal Art (art informel)': Merwart's early iron etchings and his oil paintings from between 1958 and 1960/61 are among the highest quality examples of Austrian Informal Art. This is perhaps the main reason why they were represented at the Kassel documenta in 1959.

'Mediative paintings': Around the mid-1960s, color dominated Merwart's works. For the most part painted in landscape format, they concentrate on the subtle escalation of the presence of color, applied in many layers and with extremely delicate overpainting. They radiate calm and equilibrium are compared with the work of Mark Rothko and Gotthard Graubner.

Mutations – iron etchings and acrylic paintings: From a temporal perspective, this last phase spanned at least one and a half decades. In the second half of the 1960s, the almost complete monochromacity of Merwart's earlier works was loosened up with a stronger gesture and subsequently infused with a geometric, underlying form. Radical reduction to an unprecedented degree, along with a commitment to form, became increasingly prominent in the artist's work. Similarly powerful as his approach to color, his experimentation with plate elements produced iron etchings that are unequalled in their precision. In painting, Merwart turned away from oil colors for technical reasons and used acrylics instead.

Exhibitions

(sample of recent years)

• 2006: SPEKTRUM FARBE. Kunst der Moderne. Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Sankt Pölten / Austria

• 2003: Avantgarde und Tradition. Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz / Austria

• 2003: Wasser in Attersee. Gemälde, Graphik, Photographie. Kunsthalle Attersee, KATT, Attersee / Austria

• 2003: Ludwig Merwart - Ölbilder und Eisenätzungen. Galerie Wolfgang Exner, - Galerie für junge und aktuelle Kunst, Wien / Austria

• 1999: Zeitschnitt 1900 - 2000 - 100 Jahre, 100 Werke. Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz / Austria

Solo Exhibitions

• 1958 Franzoesischer Saal des Kuenstlerhauses Vienna (A)
• 1960 Galerie Ambiente São Paulo (BR)
• 1960 Galerie Parnass Wuppertal-Elberfeld (D)
• 1960 Galerie das Fenster Frankfurt am Main (D)
• 1960 Galerie Bernd Clasing Muenster in Westfalen (D)
• 1960 Galerie Willi Verkauf Vienna (A)
• 1961 Galerie Bruecke Bielefeld (D)
• 1962 Galerie Neutorgasse der Ersten oesterreichischen Spar-Casse Vienna (A)
• 1964 Internationaler Kuenstlerklub Palais Palffy Vienna (A)
• 1968 Galerie Musarion Basel (CH)
• 1969 Galerie auf der Stubenbastei Vienna (A)
• 1970 Galerie an der Stadtmauer Villach (A)
• 1971 Galerie in der Passage Vienna (A)
• 1971 Modern Art Galerie Vienna (A)
• 1972 Galeria Linea 70 Verona (O)
• 1974 Galerie am Schottenring Vienna (A)
• 1977 Hunyadi-Schloss, Maria-Enzersdorf (A)
• 1977 Wella Gallerie Linz (A)
• 1978 Kuenstlerhaus Vienna(A)
• 1982 NOE. Landesmuseum Vienna (A)
• 1982 Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz Wolfgang Gurlitt-Museum (A)

Group Exhibitions

• 1948 Künstlerhaus Wien, Junge Künstler Österreichs (A)
• 1958 Kupferstichkabinett der Akademie der bildenden Künste Vienna (A)
• 1958 Jovenes pintores die Viena in San Salvador (ES)
• 1959 II. documenta Kassel (D)
• 1959 Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (A), Form und Farbe
• 1959 Graphik der Gegenwart, Berlin-Charlottenburg (D)
• 1959 Graphik der Gegenwart, Wiesbaden (D)
• 1959 V. Biennale de São Paulo (BR)
• 1960 International Graphic Biennale Cincinnati (USA)
• 1960 Austrian Art in the Tate-Gallery London (GB)
• 1961 Galerie OREZ, Den Haag (NL)
• 1961 Who is who Wiener Secession Wien (A)
• 1961 Triennale für Original-Farbgraphik Grenchen (CH)
• 1961 Wiener Kunst der Gegenwart, Schloß Porcia Spittal/Drau (A)
• 1961 Internationale Graphikbiennale, Cincinnati (USA)
• 1962 Int. Prints, Art Museum Cincinnati (USA)
• 1962 Graphik in Österreich, Ljubljana (früheres YU)
• 1963 Incisori Austriaci Contemporanei, Calcografia Nazionale, Rome und Pisa (I)
• 1963 Arte contemporaneo des Austrie, Horario Bogota (CO)
• 1966 Galerie Willi Verkauf, Vienna (A)
• 1968 Austrian Cultural Institute, New York (USA)
• 1968 Profile VIII Bochum (D)
• 1969 Galleria Grafica, Romero Rom (I)
• 1969 Galleria Poliantea Terni (I)
• 1969 Galleria d`Arte di San Carlo, Neapel (I)
• 1969 3 a Biennale di Bolzano (I)
• 1969 3 a Rassegna Internazionale d`Arte Acireale, Sizilien (I)
• 1969 Young Artists from Around the World, New York (USA)
• 1969 Art Center, Parkersburg (SA)
• 1969 Oglebay Institute in Wheeling (USA)
• 1969 Art Center der Ersten österreichischen Sparkasse, Wien (A)
• 1970 Incontro Sud, Reggio Calabria (I)
• 1970 Xle Salon International "Paris Sud" (F)
• 1970 Kontra-Art, Hollabrunn (A)
• 1970 Avantgarde 70, Klosterneuburg (A)
• 1970 University of Texas, Austin (USA)
• 1970 Kleine Galerie, Vienna (A)
• 1970 Panorama 70/71, Galerie bei Infeld, Kitzbühel (A)
• 1971 Kontra-Art, Hollabrunn (A)
• 1972 Galerie Döbling, Vienna (A)
• 1972 13. Graphikwettbewerb, Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck (A)
• 1972 Parz-Kontakte 72, Künstlerzentrum, Schloß Parz (A)
• 1972 2. Meeting, Wolfgangsee, St. Wolfgang (A)
• 1973 Österreichischer Graphikwettbewerb, Krems (A)
• 1973 Austrian Cultural Institute, New York (USA)
• 1973 Umweltgalerie, Stuttgart (D)
• 1974 Parzer Kontakte 74, Schloß Parz (A)
• 1974 Düsseldorfer Kunstmarkt (D)
• 1975 La jeune gravure contemporaine, Paris (F)
• 1975 Galerie Contact, Vienna (A)
• 1975 Galerie Candea, Kettwig (D)
• 1975 Düsseldorfer Kunstmarkt (D)

Publications

• Curt Grützmacher: Theo Braun, Günther Kraus, Ludwig Merwart, Graphikmappe mit Originaleisenradierungen. 1958.
• Ernst Randak: Katalogtext. Wien, 1958.
• Jorg Lampe: Malerei als Selbstvollzug. Alte und moderen Kunst, Heft 1/2. Wien, 1959.
• Jorg Lampe: Text zu neun Eisenradierungen von Theo Braun, Günther Kraus und Ludwig Merwart. Wien, 1960.
• Peter Baum: Alte und Moderne Kunst. Heft 82. Wien, 1965. Österreichische Graphik von 1955 bis 1965.
• Feuerstein, Hutter, Köller, Mrazek: Moderne Kunst in Österreich. Forum Verlag WIen, 1965.
• Peter Baum: Zur Situation der österreichischen Malerei heute. Christliche Kunstblätter 4/1966.
• Rüdiger Engerth: Die heimliche Gruppe. Neues Forum. Heft 154. Wien, 1966.
• Alfred Schmeller: L'art autr in Österreich. Aufforderung zum Misstrauen. Residenzverlag. Salzburg, 1967.
• Wilhelm Mrazek: Katalogtext. Österreichisches Kulturinstitut New York. 1968.
• Claus Pack: Moderne Graphik in Österreich. Forum Verlag. Wien, 1969
• Ludwig Merwart: 5 Originalfarbradierungen. Edition Club del Cappello Verona. Mit einem Text von Arturo Fornaro. 1972.
• Ludwig Merwart: Katalogtext für Art en garde Hunyadi-Schloss. Maria-Enzersdorf, 1977.
• Maria Buchsbaum, Jorg Lampe, Alfred Balcarek und Egon Haug: Text zur Publikation anlässlich der Ausstellung Ludwig Merwart & Theo Braun im Künstlerhaus. Wien, 1978.
• Peter Baum/Theo Braun: Texte im Katalog zu den Ausstellungen im NÖ. Landesmuseum Wien und der Neuen Galerie der Stadt Linz. 1982

References

• Exhibition Catalogue: Exhibition under the auspices of the Austrian Institute in New York. Creative printing: Etching on iron. Baum Braun Herzele Kraus Merwart. 1959.
• Exhibition Catalogue: V Bienal do Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo; São Paulo, 1959
• Exhibition Catalogue: II.documenta´59. Kunst nach 1945; Katalog: Band 1: Malerei; Band 2: Skulptur; Band 3: Druckgrafik; Textband; Kassel/Köln 1959
• Exhibition Catalogue: Ludwig Merwart NOE. Landesmuseum - Kulturabteilung der NOE. Landesregierung | Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz Wolfgang Gurlitt-Museum 1982
• Exhibition Catalogue: H.Haslecker Plastik L. Merwart Bilder und Eisenaetzungen Erste Oesterr. Spar-Casse; Galerie Schottenring, 1974
• Exponatenliste: Avantgarde und Tradition, 18.5.2003 - 9.11.2003, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz
• Newspaper Article: Zeitschnitt 1900 - 2000 - 100 Jahre, 100 Werke, Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz
• Florian Steininger, Ausgestellt in Wien, Die Presse vom 29.1.2003

External links

• Ludwig Merwart’