Bernhard Heisig (1925-2011) had a decisive influence on the art of the Leipzig School with his vivid visual language. He also had a considerable influence as Rector and Professor of the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts (HGB). He would have been 100 years old on 31 March 2025. The MdbK is honouring his work and influence in Leipzig with a cabinet exhibition to mark the occasion.
Bernhard Heisig came to Leipzig from his native city of Breslau (Wrocław) in 1948, where he lived and worked for the next 44 years. A year later, he began his studies at the State Academy of Graphic Arts and Book Trade (now the HGB), where he taught himself from 1954. In 1961, Heisig was appointed rector and professor at the academy and subsequently established an important painting class. After an intermittent break, he returned to the HGB in 1976 and again served as its rector until 1987. When he died in 2011, Bernhard Heisig left behind not only a multifaceted, enormously influential oeuvre, but also a large number of students.
In addition to the well-known history paintings, in which Bernhard Heisig “express[ed] himself with the help of history” (Lothar Lang, 2005), the exhibition also includes lesser-known, autobiographically connoted portraits, landscapes and still lifes from the MdbK's collection. There are also prints, including several sheets from the famous cycle The Fascist Nightmare (1965/66). The presentation is rounded off by photographs - including some by Helfried Strauß (*1943 Plauen), himself a professor at the HGB for many years - which show Heisig in his studio and at the university. Taken together, the show offers a subjective insight into the artist's visual world, but one that is certainly representative in terms of the variety of themes and forms of expression on display.
Opening: Wed 19.03.2025, 18 Uhr
