Gerhard Eichhorn Explained

Gerhard Eichhorn (3 May 1927 – 15 December 2015^[1]) was a German graphic artist, painter and draughtsman.

Life

Born in Judenbach, Eichhorn attended the in Sonneberg^[2] in 1942/43 and from 1945 to 1947, graduating as a ceramic modeller. From 1950 to 1955, he studied graphic design at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig under Elisabeth Voigt, Heinz Eberhard Strüning and Heinz Wagner. He completed an Aspirantur with from 1955 to 1958, at the same time leading the evening class in nude drawing. From 1959 to 1964, he was a teacher at the Leipzig College of Applied Arts, and from 1966 to 1992, he was a lecturer at the Leipzig College of Graphic Arts and Book Art, as well as head of the workshop for etchings and copperplate engraving. From 1968, he was also head of the painting and graphic arts department. From 1976, he was vice-rector and from 1978, associate professor of this teaching institution. From 1964 to 1970, he was chairman of the Bezirk Leipzig of the and a member of the same from 1955 to 1990.^[3]

Eichorn died at the age of 88.^[4]

Work

In 1965, he designed the bar of the Hotel Deutschland in Leipzig with a mural. Influenced by Käthe Kollwitz, he created the graphic cycles: "From the Struggle of the Working Class" and "The German Peasant War".^[5]

Honours

• 1969
• 1987 Vaterländischer Verdienstorden in Silver

Exhibitions

Personal exhibition

• 1975 Brandenburg
• 1976, 1977 and 1979 Leipzig
• also in Kiev, Krakow, Lyon, Moscow, Parma, Tallinn, Vienna.

Exhibition participations

• 1958, 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1977
• since 1955 District Art Exhibition Leipzig

Further reading

• Eichhorn, Gerhard. In Hans Vollmer (ed.): Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts. Band 5: V–Z. Nachträge: A–G. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1961, .
  • Dietmar Eisold (ed.): Lexikon Künstler in der DDR. Neues Leben, Berlin 2010,, .
• Ullrich Kuhirt, Christine Hoffmeister: Kunst in der DDR, Plastik, Malerei, Grafik. 1949–1959. Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1959.

Notes and References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20160109133444/http://www.lvz-trauer.de/traueranzeige/prof-gerhard-eichhorn/44730566 Traueranzeige
2. http://www.stiftung-industrie-alltagskultur.de/index.php?id=156 Fachschule für Spielzeugformgestaltung
3. http://www.deutschefotothek.de/gallery/encoded/eJzjYBIy4hIsSC0qzs9LzYvPzk8tAnGEBF0zkzMy8ovydBTcU4syEotSpJgd_VyUmEtysrUYAMrMEIQ* Work by Gerhard Eichhorn
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20160109133444/http://www.lvz-trauer.de/traueranzeige/prof-gerhard-eichhorn/44730566 Obituary
5. http://www.bildindex.de?+pbkabilder!'mi12461c07' Der Maler Gerhard Eichhorn