Spontaneous and constructive

With the Frankfurt-born Ernst Weil (1919-1981), the Giersch Museum at Goethe University presents an interesting artistic position of the German post-war period. Trained at the Munich Art Academy after the Second World War, Weil initially oriented himself towards classical modernism and worked as a graphic artist and interior designer. From 1957 to 1965, he lived in France, where he developed a freer style of painting. During this time, Weil repeatedly exhibited his work at the Frankfurt Secession exhibitions. In 1965, the artist returned to Germany to take up a professorship for painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg, where he worked on developing his own color theory. His late landscapes and figurative paintings are characterized by their gestural features, rhythmic spatial struts and sensitive colouring. They can be interpreted not only as a résumé of modernism, but also as a bridge to the painting of the "Junge Wilde" of the 1980s.

Weil did not belong to any school; despite a high degree of abstraction, his compositions never lose touch with the perceptible environment and combine spontaneous gesture and careful construction. It is precisely this ambiguity that makes him interesting for today. Weil's vital oeuvre - previously only recognized outside the canon of art history - is honored in this major retrospective, which focuses on Weil's graphic and applied works in addition to his paintings.