artist: Heinz Friedrich Kirchner (German 1926-2000)
medium: gouache on paper
dimensions: 13 x 16 1/2 cm art size / 30 x 35 cm framed size (approx)
signed
circa 1960s
presented in a new hand finished timber frame with double thick archival mat and with non-reflective UV glass
AU $685 (approx US $490 / 420 EUROS / 78,000 yen / 365 GBP - for exact current conversion visit xe.com)
artist biography
Heinz Friedrich Kirchner was born on May 21, 1926, in Weisenheim am Berg, Rhineland-Palatinate. He was a German painter, draftsman, and graphic artist.
Kirchner grew up in a farming family. After returning from military service, he pursued his passion for art and enrolled at various art schools in Munich and Mainz. He studied under Carlo Kuhl and P. P. Hübsch, developing a broad technical foundation and a keen interest in composition, material, and form.
From 1955 onward, Kirchner lived and worked in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, where he established himself both as a painter and as a creator of Kunst am Bau (art in architecture). Over his career, he completed more than 120 commissions, producing mosaics, stained-glass windows, sgraffiti, sculptures, and fountains. While these large-scale works secured his livelihood, his independent artistic practice centred on painting and drawing.
Kirchner’s art reflects the spirit of the postwar era. His portraits are noted for their clarity of composition and psychological depth, combining expressive intensity with formal restraint. Influences of Cubism and Expressionism appear in his work, yet he maintained an individual voice characterised by directness and humanity.
Alongside portraits, Kirchner produced abstracts, landscapes, still lifes, and scenes of everyday life, frequently imbuing his subjects with symbolic undertones. Works such as Winterhafen in Mainz (1947), Tanzende Bachantinnen (1950), and Lesender (1960s) illustrate his range — from post-impressionist naturalism to more abstracted, expressive forms.
Heinz Friedrich Kirchner passed away on February 1, 2000, in Neustadt.