DE ES SCHWERTBERGER´S STUDIO VISIT. June 2014.

1964 "introscope" oil on board,also titled NO END, 105X115cm ©DeEs

Dear Steemians!
As I mentioned in my previous post (https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@romanie/painting-seminar-in-austria-2014-old-masters-techniques) about the Painting Retreat I went on in Austria back in 2014, I met a painter that impressed me very much, as much as an artist and as a person. This is De Es Schwertberger (https://dees.at/)

I mentioned that on the weekends we would go into Vienna on a day trip to visit certain museums or some artists studios.
One Saturday Professor Phil had organised a morning visit to see the studio of De Es and after lunch we would to the Ernst Fuchs museum and see him also. https://www.ernstfuchs-zentrum.com/

The famous one that had everyone with high expectations was the afternoon visit to the shiny Fuchs Villa, De Es was not known to us artist on the course.

So, off we went to the city to see the artists...

De Es´s studio is a large old car garage made into his art space. It´s right in the center of Vienna in the 6th district near Mariahilfestrasse. As we went through a small door this is the first image I saw was a poster , with this image...

I recognised the image!!!!!!!! I had no idea about the artist or who it was.
I´ll go back in time to explain.
As a child my mother used to have some magazines hanging around called Omni

I spent a lot of time specially looking into the paintings and illustrations that were in the magazines. Then when I went to high school I decorated my "all subjects folder" with a collage of many images and photos I liked and I cut out many of the images in these magazines (amongst others) and never looked into who were the artists. There was no internet at that time. I didn´t explore like I would now. So resulting from this, I spend 4 years using this decorated folder and carrying around this image having no idea I´d meet the real artist!

I had a friend take a pic of this weird coincidence!

Then we roamed the studio... goodness! It took my breath away. These paintings as original pieces are mindblowing.

Stefi, Mantra and myself sitting under one of the pieces.

posing as one of his figures of Planetarians.

Here are some of my favourite paintings, from different times of his life:

I was deeply affected by this visit and encounter with his paintings. We didn´t speak a lot on that first day, he is a quiet and reserved kind of person, but I felt very at ease with what I felt.
We then went for lunch and after that to the glittery and flashy Ernst Fuchs villa. It was also very amazing but in a very different way for me. The Villa is impressive. Here are a couple of images of the inside.

On my way back to the Payerbach where we continued our course I couldn´t get these paintings out of my mind.

Then on the next day off, De Es came up with some friends to join us on a hike, and that day I got time to talk to him a little more and share ideas and I discovered a very interesting and wonderful person.

I felt there was so much I could learn from him as an artist. I ended up asking him if he would take me as a student if I returned to Vienna. He kindly told me that he doesn´t teach or take students but if I was to be in Vienna he could come to visit me weekly and talk about the paintings I´m working on or guide me if needed. I thought that was wonderful because I was already planning on renting a place to stay for 3 months just painting. Vienna seemed like a wonderful place. I had made some artist friends during the summer and felt I wanted to go deeper into the knowledge I had acquired during the month.
When I returned back home in Ibiza, after asking everyone I knew in Vienna for an apartment I was offered the perfect place. Small, cheap enough I could afford and I still had money to do this from the time I raised it to do the course, so then in November I headed back and ended up by staying for 4 and half months.
It was a very intense time where I went deep into my art and personal exploration.
I have been back a number of times and I feel very attached to this city.
Next chapter could be about the paintings and experience there during that winter.

I hope you enjoyed this little introduction to the wonderful work of De Es.
Best Wishes!
Romanie

http://romanie.net/
http://sunlightart.blogspot.com/

A book of his work:

https://www.amazon.es/Heavy-Light-Art-Es-Schwertberger/dp/1883398045