Richard Ludvig Philip Weibull Winther
1926 Maribo - 2007 Vindeby
Richard Ludvig Philip Weibull Winther was a Danish artist focused mainly on painting, graphics, photography and sculpture. Richard's work was greatly influenced by Asger Jorn and Richard Mortensen, both Danish artists part of the Linien group.
"Abildgaard was an eclectic. Picasso and Max Ernst, too. Also Per Kirkeby, Bjørn Nørgaard and myself. We are all strong consumers of existing images, publications that we process, manipulate, transform into new images. It's a working method. You make images with images. You make art with art." Richard Winther.
Richard Winther was born into a wealthy family and since he was financially independent, he did not have to think about selling his works, but could work without compromise. He saw himself primarily as a painter, but was a multi-artist who worked in many forms of expression, including complicated cameras that he built himself. His artistic practice is difficult to categorize. Deliberately pushing the boundaries of the traditional conception of art, he worked in plaster, wrote books, made films and theater, engaged in photographic art and collage, and drew and painted large, spacious and colorful works heavily inspired by mythological and theological narratives influenced by Pablo Picasso. And then he had an insatiable fascination with women, who were the absolute center of his art. Besides, he was firmly opposed to naturalism and impressionism, whose influence, in his opinion, should be fought by all means, since the imitation of nature eliminated the imagination and art.
Winther achieved great international recognition and is one of the few Danish artists who was invited to have his own exhibition at MoMa in New York. From 1980-86 he was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, but broke with the art establishment, in which he could no longer see himself and retreated in 1993 until the end of his life, in a disused retirement home.
Countless stories are told about Richard Winther. About his temperament and his passion for exploring different artistic genres. For the last 14 years of his life he lived in Vindeby on Lolland, in the town's old nursing home, which he influenced to such an extent that the house stands as a synthesis of the arts of his life's work. 250 square meters, dilapidated, with some walls intact, others broken down, so that there is light and air in all rooms. But also with decorations painted directly on the walls, which, with an area of more than 70 square meters, continue to provide a powerful welcome to the house's guests.
There are strong forces at play in Richard Winther's house in Vindeby and, as usual, strong erotic undertones. His home served as a studio, workshop, living area and housed his art collection and a library. He decorated about 72 square meters of walls, doors and ceilings with 56 paintings. Together they offer an autobiographical panorama of his relationship with women, his sexuality, his work as an artist and his views on other important issues in life: society, Christianity, Buddhism and everyday reality. He expresses himself through symbols and allegories drawn for European and global visual arts, mythology, history and literature, often with reference to Ovid. All in all, they represent an important contribution to Danish visual art from this period and hopefully in the future.
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Here we have an important & characteristic unique work by Richard Winther painted in the late 1950s in Copenhagen.
Ink on paper
Signed & dated
Real wood frame - custom made
Mirogard glass, UV 100, glare-free
FSC-certified timber, 100% Made in Germany, 100% Organic
Size 42 x 32 cm
Provenance | Artist's Atelier, Auctioneers Germany, Private Collection Denmark
Differential taxation according to § 25a UStG. No taxes included. | Differenzbesteuerung nach § 25a UStG. Kunstgegenstände und Sammlungsstücke, Sonderregelung.
