Background
Gerhard von Graevenitz was born on September 19, 1934 in Schilde, Antwerp, Belgium. His father was a head of a district council (Landrat).
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, 60323, Germany
University of Frankfurt
Akademiestraße 2-4, 80799 München, Germany
Academy of Fine Arts in Munich
Gerhard von Graevenitz was born on September 19, 1934 in Schilde, Antwerp, Belgium. His father was a head of a district council (Landrat).
During the period from 1955 to 1956, Gerhard studied economics at the University of Frankfurt. In 1956, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, graduating in 1961. Ernst Geitlinger was his mentor at the Academy.
Gerhard von Graevenitz started his career as an editor of a magazine, dedicated to international art and concrete poetry, which he worked on together with Jürgen Morschel. In 1958, the painter started to make his white monochrome reliefs ("White Structures") with concave and convex points or circles, showing structures as progressions, degressions and chance constellations on a grid. In 1961, he created his first kinetic object.
Approximately in 1960-1961, Jürgen and Gerhard started the gallery "nota" in Munich, showing solo-exhibitions of Otto Piene, Heinz Mack, Almir Mavignier and François Morellet.
Also, in 1961, Gerhard von Graevenitz left for Paris, where he shared a studio together with Julio Le Parc. The following year, he became one of the co-founders of the movement Nouvelle Tendance and served as an organizer of the international group-shows until the group's break-up in 1965.
In 1962, the painter held his first solo exhibition. In 1968, Gerhard participated in documenta 4 in Kassel with three large kinetic objects. Some time later, in 1970, Gerhard settled down in Amsterdam. Also, during the 1970s, the painter held the post of an independent organizer and curator of exhibitions for the Dutch Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, Kölnische Kunstverein and others.
In opposition to the representatives of the first constructive movement (Piet Mondriaan, Max Bill) von Graevenitz did not believe in a Modernist utopian value of his art, but took it to be a special model for thoughts about how networks of relationships work in general.
Gerhard was married to Antje von Graevenitz, an art historian. The couple had two children.