Günter Haese

Biography of Günter Haese

Born in 1924 in Kiel, Günter Haese showed an early and natural talent for painting and drawing, pursuing these activities in a self-taught manner until the age of 26. He studied in the master class of Ewald Mataré and Bruno Goller at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, alongside artists like Joseph Beuys and Erwin Heerich. The artist quickly advanced to the Master Class of Sculpture under Mataré, eventually assisting his mentor in work for the Cologne Cathedral. Mataré recognized Haese's meticulous studies of nature and directed him towards sculpture.

In 1963, the artist submitted his first series of sculptures to the Junger Westen Prize, which, while relatively simple compared to his later works, marked the beginning of his unique artistic vocabulary. His style rapidly developed, and in 1964, he held his first exhibition at the Ulmer Museum. The show generated significant interest, leading to a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York the same year. Haese became the first German artist to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The same year, the artist was also invited to participate in Documenta III in Kassel, where he exhibited alongside renowned artists such as Hans Arp, Francis Bacon, Max Bill, Constantin Brâncusi, Alexander Calder, Charles Eames, Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró, Piet Mondrian, and Egon Schiele.

Günter Haese went on to represent Germany at the XXXIII Venice Biennale in 1966 and participated in the São Paulo Biennial X in 1969. Over the years, his works have been exhibited and collected by numerous prestigious institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Tate Modern, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Museum Ulm, Kunsterneshus Oslo, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, and the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover.

The Art of Günter Haese

Inspired by Mataré, Haese shifted away from creating monotype prints on glass plates, where he had already begun experimenting with reticular motifs. His artistic direction took a decisive turn when he dismantled a broken watch, discovering the materials that would define his future work. Using pliers, clamps, and welders, he began crafting sculptures from brass meshes and copper wires. He soon evolved toward creating more stable structures using chronometer components, eventually designing what he described as "freer rhythmic and scenic events."

Haese’s monotypes and frottages, created between 1959 and 1960, served as precursors to his first freestanding sculptures, with only about 20 to 30 unique pieces produced. These works involved printing plaster sculptures that Haese originally built, transferring their forms onto paper using black ink. The structure of his later sculptures is evident in these two-dimensional pieces, with elements like gear wheels, spirals, and fine networks, which evoke impressions of buckles and stamped sheets.