Heiko Pippig. Thank you. What an incredible talent and generous, sweet man.

We left Mosbach today after spending a few days on a shoot, and both received a painting from him. Amazing!

We had both really admired his work and the home owner told him. We had hoped to meet him yesterday but the shoot went over time and we missed our opportunity. This morning Heyley presented us with our gifts, saying that "Heiko painted these for you." What? Wow! I love it and can barely believe it. We are planning to surprise him with a visit on our way to Dusseldorf next week…shhhh…don't tell him…it's going to be a surprise!

Heiko Pippig is a contemporary German artist, trained under "world renowned painter" Markus Lupertz. He has always been fascinated, even "obsessed" with the human form. He completed his art studies at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe in 1982, and some years later at the prestigious Acedemy of Visual Arts university (Hochschule für Graphik und Buchkunst) in Leipzig.

Pippig belongs to a long tradition of German artists: from Lovis Corinth to the "Brücke" artists (i.e. E.L. Kirchner, K. Schmidt- Rottluff) with their urban scenes and figures to the post-war art of "wild paintings" by Jörg Immendorff, Georg Baselitz or Salomé. Characteristic for these artists are the impulsive, almost eruptive bold strokes, strong and contrasting colours, an impressive simplification of the outlines of their figures, to express their subjective impressions and feelings. Their paintings do not show reality, but an inner vision of their reality, an inner essence of themselves.

Pippig chooses his models carefully, studying them for a long time before deciding to paint them. He observes patiently, imbuing himself with their personality before beginning to paint. The outward appearance is not his real goal – he wants a portrait of the model's character. He believes with Oscar Wilde: "The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible". If you want to discover the heart, you have to begin with the surface. Pippig refuses outside proposals. Long-term friendships mean more to him, among them are actors, famous persons or politicians.

Source:
Website of Treasure Seeka, 9/8/2014



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German painter, 1971/72 Werk-Kunstschule Mannheim, 1973-78 Academy Karlsruhe with Peter Ackermann and Markus Lüpertz 1988/89 Leipzig University with Bernhard Heisig