Twenty years ago, on his 70th birthday, the then Federal Chancellor congratulated him. Amazing, because Strawalde alias Jürgen Böttcher is not nearly as well known as the painter AR Penck, whom Strawalde once taught. Perhaps his very sympathetic anonymity is based on the fragmentation of his life into at least two, but rather four components, which at first glance have little in common.
Strawalde, who now lives in Berlin and celebrates his 90th birthday here, was born in Saxony and studied at the Dresden Art Academy until 1953. He worked as a freelance artist for a while, and also taught himself. Then he studied directing and worked for a long time as a documentary filmmaker with the state-owned film company Defa. Which in no way means that Böttcher’s work was sacrosanct.
On the contrary: his very first films, such as “Three of Many” (1961), a homage to the artistically active working-class friends Peter Herrmann, Peter Graf and Peter Makolies, are banned – too much love of freedom, too anti-dogmatic. It took 27 years to be seen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Böttcher is not deterred by this, he shoots commissioned works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and continues to document how he perceives everyday life in its quiet beauty. The other film projects are approved, but the result is put in the poison cabinet. At the same time, as Strawalde, he creates an alternative world in which he rules alone.
He pays homage to the aesthetic surfaces and the color or resorts to models from the Renaissance such as the painter Giorgione to alienate his slumbering Venus, but does not obey any style. Strawalde switches back and forth between figurative representation and abstraction as required.
He has made a name for himself with both, and also with his films. Böttcher owns, among other things, the film ribbon in gold for his life’s work, the European film prize for the best documentary film and, since 2001, the Federal Cross of Merit. His paintings are part of important collections, the Museum Ludwig owns works as well as the National Gallery and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The German Bundestag bought three of his pictures.
The self-righteousness of adults disgusted the young Jürgen Böttcher
The Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk recently ran an hour-long report about Böttcher / Strawalde – an artist name that, like Georg Baselitz, refers to the village in which he grew up. This childhood, says Böttcher in the feature worth listening to, was shaped by the Second World War as well as by an unbelievable self-righteousness of adults soon after 1945 had to face the “monstrosities of the world” shortly before. One can never forget that, is his conclusion.
His art does not reveal any of this, but the sensitivity is hinted at in the great work that the doubly gifted artist has created over decades.
I am a technology author with 8 years of experience in journalism. My writing covers the latest technology advancements and trends, drawing on my expertise in news journalism and social media platforms. I have contributed to major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.
