Page 49 - AIT1124_E-Paper

Freundschaftsfoto
von • by Jürgen Wittdorf

sammlung-juergen-wittdorf.de
galerie.sammlungamann.com/de

The well-trained bodies of young people, bursting with health,

depicted in numerous graphics by Jürgen Wittdorf still exert a

tremendous fascination today. However, to truly understand the

graphic work of this artist, who was born in Karlsruhe in 1932

and passed away in Berlin in 2018, it is important to consider and

contextualise it in its historical and political background. After

studying at the Leipzig Academy of Fine Arts (HGB), Wittdorf was

heavily involved in the political system of the GDR (East Germany).

He was a member of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) as well as a
member of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR. As was

common in the GDR, this allowed him to make a living from official

commissions by state institutions. A clear example of this is the

1964 series “Youth and Sports”, which was commissioned by the

German University of Physical Culture (DHfK) in Leipzig. At the age

of just 32, Wittdorf achieved a masterpiece with this work. The

five large-format images were created as wood and linoleum cuts.

Wittdorf’s works are documentary, not only because they capture

everyday scenes, but also because they reflect the possibilities and

limits that artists faced within the dictatorship of the SED. They

also tell the story of an artist’s life in a political system that had a

strong influence on artistic practice. In his series “For the Youth”,

Sammlung Wittdorf/Studio Galerie, Berlin / Galerie Sammlung Amann, Stuttgart the Junge Welt publishing house, Wittdorf built a bridge between
published in 1963 as a portfolio with a print run of 10,000 copies by

youth culture in the East and West. After the fall of the Berlin

Wall, Wittdorf suddenly found himself without commissions and

struggled to get by until the end of his life. Later, he became severely

affected by dementia and passed away in Berlin in 2018.

Die Grafik „Frendschaftsfoto“ stammt aus dem Zyklus Jugend und Sport von 1964