Herbert Zangs

Background

Zangs was born in Krefeld, Germany, on March 27, 1924.

Education

Herbert Zangs attended the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf between 1945 and 1949 together with Günter Grass.

Career

Zangs extensively traveled both in Germany and abroad. He created a great number of purely figurative works, which were publicly presented in 1950 during his first solo show at the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld. In 1951 he went to Paris for the first time, where he got acquainted with Wols. The same year Herbert Zangs opened his own studio in the Künstlerhaus in Sittarder Strasse in Düsseldorf; there he did his first abstract work.

In the 1950s Herbert Zangs made his living generally producing figurative work. Parallel, he managed to develop his own abstract style on the side. The first 'Ver-Weißungen' [Whitenings] of structures and things of daily use came into existence and first collages and objects were designed. Zangs visited the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition 'Zwölf amerikanische Maler und Bildhauer' in Düsseldorf in 1953. At the show he was particularly impressed by Jackson Pollock's works. The artist became bored with the easel and the rhythmic gestures of paint application, and it became an impetus to cross the frontier and encouraged him to further experiments.

During 1962-1965 Zangs lived in the South of France. After that, he had numerous trips abroad, before eventually settling in his native Krefeld at the beginning of the 1980s. Perhaps, among his contemporaries, Wols and Lothar Quinte had the strongest influence on his work. Herbert Zangs's oeuvre belonged to the realm of Informel. It could be divided into several stylistic subgroups, such as the 'Ver-Weißungen' ('Whitening'), the 'Rechenzeichen-Collagen' ('Mathematical Signs Collages'), the 'Scheibenwischer-Bilder' ('Windscreen Wiper Pictures'), 'Pinselabwicklungen' ('Brush Processing') and also 'Peitschenbilder' ('Whip Pictures'). All these styles bear the artist's vivid signature. In 1993 he held another exhibition of his artworks titled 'Das offene Bild' ('The Open Picture') in the Westfälisches Landesmuseum in Münster.

Achievements

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  Herbert Zangs was best known for his handmade monochromatic works. They demonstrated his commitment to an improvised, informal artistic process. Zangs received the Art Prize of the City of Krefeld in 1952, and in 1958 the Franklin Institute of America prize. Besides, in 1962, the artist was awarded by the Ostende Biennale, receiving the Europe Prize for Painting.

Works

More photos

• collage

  • Rechenzeichen

  • Knüpfung

  • Composition

• installation

  • Object

  • Objects

  • Fundstück (GM car part)

  • Antibuch

  • Collage-Object mit Glühbirnen

• painting

  • Peinture-Relief

  • Untitled

  • Große Verknüpfung aus Sackleinen

  • Yellow & Blue 16 Multi-Dot Circles

  • Untitled

  • o.T. (Drahtgitter-Faltung)

  • Nouages-Knüpfungen

  • Grau

  • Große Knüpfung

  • Folding

  • Untitled

  • Composition with record sleeves

  • Untitled (Antibuch)

  • Rechenzeichen

  • Charcoal Drawings

  • Dripping/Verlaufsbild

  • Untitled

  • o.T. (blau, rot)

  • Untitled

  • o.T.

  • Untitled

  • Untitled

• sculpture

  • Anti-Buch - Anti-Book

  • Fundstück (japanese umbrella)

  • Construction with 2 objects fixed on wood

Personality

Herbert Zangs was a restless person, who traveled a lot.

References

• Herbert Zangs: Werkmonographie (German Edition)
• Herbert Zangs (German Edition)