One of Klee’s last students, Berke began studying with the artist in 1932. It was during this intensive period that he made the decision to become a painter. Now he no longer understood the line as the mere contouring of a pictorial object – it became the trace of an inner movement. In Grüne Beschwörung (Green Invocation) the black strokes are reminiscent of calligraphic, spontaneously placed signs. In 1951, Berke joined ZEN 49, a group of artists founded in Munich who, after the still recent experience of war, sought contemplation, self-liberation and internalisation in the study of Zen philosophy. Few artists immersed themselves as deeply in spiritual matters as Berke. He used practices such as meditation to release the creative powers of the unconscious and help his imagination to express itself freely.
Hubert Berke (1908–1979)
Grüne Beschwörung, 1958
Currently exhibited: Yes (Gallery: Lines against Limits)
Material: Oil on canvas
Size: 130 x 100 cm
Inv-Nr.: S_021
Keywords:
Donated to the Reinhard & Sonja Ernst Foundation by the artists community of heirs
Hubert Berke owes the idea of the line as a trace of an inner movement to Paul Klee. As one of his last students, Berke began studying with Klee in 1932. It was during this intensive period that he made the decision to become a painter. His training was abruptly interrupted when Klee was dismissed after the National Socialists seized power in April 1933.
In Hubert Berke’s painting, the line became the key compositional instrument, which transcended its role to outline a subject in order to express an image. Berke’s acceptance as a member of the artist group ZEN 49, founded in Munich in 1951, accelerated his approach to a new, open pictorial form. The name of the group is a reference to Zen Buddhism, which many artists were exploring at the time. Hubert Berke had also been fascinated by non-European cultures since his school days. After the still recent war experience, he sought contemplation, self-liberation and internalisation in the study of Zen philosophy together with Fritz Winter, Willi Baumeister, Rupprecht Geiger, Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff (geborene Meier-Denninghoff) and others. Few delved as deeply into spiritual matters as Berke. He used practices such as meditation to open up new creative freedom.
In many of his works, he used calligraphic-like signs. This is also the case in Grüne Beschwörung (Green Invocation): here the colour is concentrated in spots that are reminiscent of spontaneously placed calligraphic signs. Berke first worked out this new-found freedom on paper before pursuing it in his paintings on canvas.
