Original scientific paper
Rudolf Bunk - A painter between two distant seas
Ješa Denegri
Abstract
Marking the occasion of the Retrospective exhibition of Rudolf Gerhard Bunk's paintings, in Split (1997), the author has written an essay which has not been published until the present. Bunk was born in Berlin (1908), where he studied Art history, and attended the Academy of the Fine Art (prof. Karl Hofer) and the Academy of Applied Arts (department of stage design). He was influenced by Hofer (1878-1955) in adopting the Germany Expressionist style (Die Brucke, Der Blaue Reiter) and thus was, among other artists of the same artistic affiliation, condemned by the nazis in the "Entartete Kunst" campaign. After exhibiting his work at the forbiden "Darmstadter Sezession"exhibition (1934), he was evicted from his studio and had to emigrate to Switzerland. Soon after, he moved to Sweden, where he put on an exhibition in Stockholm (1937), but, under the pressure of the German expansion, had to flee to Yugoslavia in 1938, first to Koločep, and then on to Split, where he remained till 1942. After emigrating to Africa, he returned to Split, where he settled from 19471957. In 1958 Bunk moved to Hamburg, where he died in 1974.
The first phase of his work is marked by integration into the tendencies of the German Expressionism, and the influence of "New Reality", which has expanded the original expressionist education it is best characterized by a series of portraits of the distinguished contemporary German intellectuals (E. Fuhrmann, E. Bluher, R. Binding, H. Carossa, M. Kommerell, G. Oucama Knopp). He put on his first solo exhibition in Split in 1940. Alongside with his earlier expressionist elements emphasising social accents and ref lections of the early Picasso, he presented dalmatian landscapes enriched by mediterranean palette. During his second stay in Split (19471957), the strong expresionistic forms have gradually calmed towards a mediterannean sense of harmony and atmosphere. Of great importance, apart from his painting, is Bunk's work as the stage designer for the National Theatre. Bunk fitted completely into the Split painters' circle and took part in the exhibitions organized by the Union of the Fine Artists of Croatia. Especially remarkable is that he was, except for Kaštelančić, the only painter from the Split circle be included in the "Salon '54" in Rijeka, an exhibition of the crucial significance in pursuing the freedom of artistic expression of that time in Croatia. Although his Retrospective has been the occasion for some critical essays and interpretations (T. Maroević, foreword in the catalogue), the authors feels strongly that Bunk's artwork deserves an excessive and thorough interpretation, especially his important role as a stage designer.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
153856
URI
Publication date:
15.12.1998.
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