SUMPTUOUS FLOWERS. A source of inspiration

Who does not find a large quantity, an abundance of diverse, colourful blossoms beneficial and life-affirming?

With this exhibition, the Heikendorf Art Museum wants to welcome spring and awaken good spirits. The spirits of life are gradually awakening - in nature and in each of us. The gardening season is beginning, people are drawn outdoors again, the air is getting warmer and colourful flowers are popping up everywhere. Even in the well-tended museum garden there is a buzz of activity, with many different early bloomers stretching and stretching.

Flowers have fascinated many artists over the centuries. In Far Eastern painting, the flower as a stand-alone element appeared much earlier than in Western art. Major Renaissance painters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, as well as Ludger tom Ring and Jan Brueghel the Elder - who has rightly gone down in art history as 'Flower Brueghel' - are regarded as pioneers of the flower still life. They freed the flower from its sacred attachment. They saw them as a botanical spectacle. In the 17th century, this new genre of art in Flanders and the experienced its first 'heyday' in Flanders and the Netherlands. Elaborate, opulent flower arrangements in finely coordinated colours were created with great attention to detail. In particular, Dutch flower painting placed great emphasis on the symmetrical arrangement of luxuriant bouquets.

It was precisely this compositional scheme that many Baroque artists abandoned in favour of an irregular and animated style of representation. They now preferred more delicate colours and delicate shapes against an often dark background. The Dutch still life painter Rachel Ruysch, for example, also liked to use effective lighting effects in her bouquets. Romantic painters reduced the abundance and splendour of blossoms in favour of the individual flower, which for them was a sign of natural grace and charm.

The flower motif experienced a second 'heyday' in Impressionist painting, which was concerned with capturing fleeting visual impressions, momentary moods and light conditions, the moment par excellence. Flickering, richly coloured and nuanced works emerged. A little later, the Expressionists consciously moved away from realistic forms and created abstractions rich in colour and contrast.

Flower still life continues to be the subject of many artists today. It has become a much admired motif in modern painting, which has produced many artistically independent and individual 'blooms'.

In this exhibition, all the members of the Heikendorf Artists' Colony will be represented, who have realised their flower motifs in oil, watercolour or in the technique of coloured woodcuts.

Guests such as Friedel Anderson, Alexej von Assaulenko, Monika Maria Dotzer, Annemarie Ewertsen, Heide Jopp, Willi Langbein, Matthias Lindner, Ernst Othmar Pudek, Roswitha Steinkopf, Max Streckenbach and Edgars Vinters enrich this colourful spring exhibition with their flower paintings. The different styles and compositions span a period from around 1900 to the present day.

We would like to thank all the private and public lenders such as the Förde Sparkasse, the Schleswig-Holstein State Library, the Museum Eckernförde and the Alexej von Assaulenko Kulturstiftung for their active support.

Discover bright spring and summer bouquets, beautiful field flowers, Asian-style arrangements and your own favourite flowers. We look forward to your visit and wish you blossoming thoughts, memories and scents in this budding but also fading flora.

On the occasion of this exhibition, pictures of our museum garden through the seasons can be seen on our display in the hallway.