Background
Harald Metzkes was born on January 23, 1929, in Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. He is a son of Walter Metzkes, a doctor, and Margot Metzkes.
2019
Harald Metzkes sits in his Brandenburg studio. Photo by Bernd Settnik.
2019
Harald Metzkes stands in his Brandenburg studio. Photo by Bernd Settnik.
2019
Harald Metzkes at work in his Brandenburg studio. Photo by Bernd Settnik.
2019
Harald Metzkes at work in his Brandenburg studio. Photo by Bernd Settnik.
‘Interieur mit stehendem weiblichen Akt’ by Harald Metzkes purchased for $54,690 at Lehr Art Auction in 2005.
Brühlsche Terrasse 1, 01067 Dresden, Germany
The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts where Harald Metzkes studied art from 1949 to 1953.
Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin, Germany
The Academy of Arts in Berlin where Harald Metzkes studied from 1955 to 1958.
Harald Metzkes. Photo by P/F/H/ullstein bild.
Harald Metzkes. Photo by P/F/H/ullstein bild.
Harald Metzges (center) receives the bronze badge of Altlandsberg city from Mayor Arno Jaeschke (left) and the acting city council chairman Ravindra Gujjula (right).
Harald Metzkes with the students from the Wilhelm-von-Siemens-Gymnasium.
Harald Metzkes
Harald Metzkes was born on January 23, 1929, in Bautzen, Saxony, Germany. He is a son of Walter Metzkes, a doctor, and Margot Metzkes.
Harald Metzkes graduated from a secondary school in 1946. The same year, he received his first art lessons, in watercolor painting, from Alfred Herzog. From 1947 to 1949, he was a stonemason apprentice of sculptor Max Rothe.
In 1949, Metzkes entered the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts where he studied painting under Wilhelm Lachnit and Rudolf Bergander for four subsequent years.
From 1955 to 1958, Harald Metzkes pursued his education at the Arts Academy in Berlin where his teacher was Otto Nagel.
In 1957, Metzkes made a three-month study trip to China.
Harald Metzkes started his career in Bautzen working as a freelance artist from 1953 to 1955. By the end of the decade, Metzkes relocated to Berlin where he set up an apartment studio a year after.
In 1963, he exhibited for the first time. The same year, Metzkes tried his hand as an illustrator. The first book he created images for was ‘The enchanted one’ by Vladimir Pozner. It was followed by fifteen more volumes, including the books by Marino Moretti, William Heinesen, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franz Fühmann, Christa Wolf, Hermann Bang, August Strindberg, and Theodor Fontane.
In 1966, one of Metzkes’s artworks was purchased by the National Gallery in Berlin. By the early 1970s, the artist experimented with plastic arts and started to produce sculptures from a variety of materials.
Since the first exhibition, Harald Metzkes has regularly shown his paintings nationally and internationally, including a couple of Venice Biennales, in 1984 and 1988.
The 90th birthday of Metzkes was marked by many retrospectives of his works.
Steinmetz
Rittlings vorwärts
Geige, Metronom, Cello
Ins Abseits
Dreischubladenbild
Der steinerne Gast in der Tapete
Schimmel vorm Fenster
Dreißig Regenschirme
Augen zu
Schule der Mimik
Siebensachen
Anlegestelle Brühlsche Terrasse
Die zerstörte Carolabrücke
Mann mit krankem Hund
Pechnelkenstrauß
Polytechnischer Unterricht
Boot und Fischerhütte
Frau am Tisch
Kartenspieler am Strand
Die Schwelle
Kapuzineräffchen
Berliner Runde
Lesende am Fenster
Badekuhle
Zwei Tassen Tee
Ach, Du in Deinem weißen Kleid (nach F. Villon)
Stilleben vor Staffelei
Ritterlicher Besuch im DKW
Harald Metzkes became a full member of the Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts) in 1986.
Harald Metzkes married a textile designer Elrid Fiebig. They lived together till her death in 2014. The family produced three children named Robert, Verena, and Walter. Robert and Verena followed the artistic steps of their father and became sculptors.