Fred Thieler
* 17 03 1916 | Königsberg
† 06 06 1999 | Berlin
Fred Thieler was member of the artists' group "Zen 49" from, which championed abstract art. As one of main exponents of German Art Informel Thieler was also an important colour painter, whose gestural painting extended beyond the execution of brushstrokes: The diluted colours were poured onto the canvas, where they generate their own dynamics in combination with the material itself.
Works by Fred Thieler
Vita Fred Thieler
1916
Born in Königsberg
1936-1941
Studied Medicine; Military service
1941
Banned from studying for "racial" reasons
1946-1950
Studied painting at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich, under Carl Caspar;
Member of the artists' group called "ZEN 49"1948
Beginning of a long-standing friendship with John Anthony Thwaites and Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff
1949
Participation in the exhibition "Kunstschaffen in Deutschland", Central Art Collecting Point, Munich
1950-1951
Several extended trips to the Netherlands
1951-1953
Several extended trips to Paris
Studied in the "Atelier 17" under Stanley William Hayter; Forged contact to Hans Hartung, Serge Poliakoff and Pierre Soulages1953-1959
Domiciled in Munich
seit 1953
member of the artists' group "Neue Gruppe München"
seit 1954
member of the German Artists' Association (Deutsches Künstlerbund), Berlin
1955
Participation in the exhibition "Peintures et sculptures non-figuratives en Allemagne d'aujourd'hui", Cercle Volney, Paris; Premio Lissone, Lissone/Italy
1957
Participation in the exhibition "Couleur vivante - Lebendige Farbe" (Living Colour) at the Städtisches Museum Wiesbaden, and "Eine neue Richtung in der Malerei" (A New Direction in Painting), Kunsthalle Mannheim
1958
Participation in the XXIX Biennial in Venice (together with Cavael, Goetz, Schumacher, Sonderborg)
1959
Participation in the "documenta II", Kassel; Professor at the Academy for Visual Arts, Berlin (until 1981)
1964
Participation in the "documenta III", Kassel
1965-1966
Artistic design of the walls and the 14 Stations of the Cross for the Heilig-Geist-Kirche, Emmerich
1967
Participation in the World Exhibition in Montreal, German Pavilion
1972-1973
Visiting professor at the College of Art and Design, Minneapolis/USA
seit 1978
Member of the Academy for Visual Arts, Berlin, and of the artists' group Neue Darmstädter Sezession (New Darmstadt Secession), Darmstadt
seit 1979
Member of the Internationale Gesellschaft für Bildende Künste, Paris (1979-1984 Vice-President, from 1984 Honorary President)
1980-1983
Vice-President of the Academy for Visual Arts, Berlin
1983
Participation in the exhibition "Die Malerei der Informellen heute" (Informel Painting Today) in the Moderne Galerie of the Saarland-Museum, Saarbrücken
1985
Awarded the Lovis-Corinth Prize
Awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany1991
Foundation of the Fred-Thieler Award for painting, art award for young artists
1995
Retrospective exhibition featuring works from 1942-1993, held in the Berlinische Galerie in the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
1999
Dies in Berlin