Anton Lehmden

(* 1929)

Austria – Art after 1945 – Realism, Surrealism – Anton Lehmden

Vita:

Anton Lehmden studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna with Albert Paris Gütersloh. As early as 1948 he got the opportunity to take part in the exhibitions of the „Art Club“. Together with Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, Rudolf Hausner and Wolfgang Hutter, he belonged to the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. The first exhibition of the works of this group took place in 1959 in the Upper Belvedere. After the interest in this new group grew, other artists joined this community. The international thirst for knowledge and curiosity was also aroused. Seven years later, the first Personale was presented in the United States. Apart from Anton Lehmden’s passion for painting, he began to enjoy being able to pass on his knowledge. In the early 1960s he taught at the Art Academy in Istanbul. Later he was also director of the summer academy in Salzburg until he returned to Vienna in the 1970s, where he taught the master class of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. Since 1966 he has been pleased about the acquisition of the renaissance castle Deutschkreuz in Burgenland, where he is busy with the renovation. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions of his pictures, his work includes the design of the Volkstheater subway station and the church in Istanbul belonging to the St. Georgs College. Anton Lehmden’s work has also been honored with numerous prizes.

Work:

Anton Lehmden’s work was initially characterized by the lyrical recording and presentation of the landscape and a strong reference to Chinese landscape painting. His pictures appeared fragmented and broken up into layers. In contrast to his colleagues at the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism at the time, the artist’s interest was more in the spacious and hilly world landscapes shaped by surrealism. Another focus in Anton Lehmden’s work was architecture, mostly of monuments from antiquity, which he dealt with on his numerous study trips. In addition to his passion for architecture, one could also recognize recurring themes in his works. Events of war and natural disasters were often part of his oil paintings and etching cycles. Contrary to the formation of the Viennese School of Fantastic Surrealism, he relied on earthy and reduced colors.