Helmut Heinze

Helmut Heinze (born 24 April 1932) is a German sculptor. From 1979 to 1997 Heinze was professor of plastic arts at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.

Life

Heinze, son to a railwayman, was born in Mulda and raised in Dresden where he attended Volksschule and Oberschule. During his school time Heinze took drawing courses from Etha Richter.

In 1950 Heinze began his studies at Dresden Academy of Fine Arts under Erich Fraaß und Walter Arnold. During this time he created his first graphics and plastics and met Gerhard Richter who studied in Dresden at the same time. Letters from Richter to Heinze dating back to ca. 1960 were acquired by the Gerhard Richter Archiv of Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in 2008. Heinze was introduced to Dresden-based artists by Rudolf Nehmer and created a bust of Nehmer in 1957. In 1973 Nehmers integrated Heinze's sculpture (Flute Playing and Song) in his painting (Nature and Art). From 1953 to 1955 Heinze interrupted his studies for a stone sculptor apprenticeship under Werner Hempel. During this time Heinze participated in restoring the Dresden Kreuzkirche and the Meissen Cathedral. In 1955 he continued his studies and fished them in 1957, working as a freelance artist since. In 1956 Heinze married the costume designer Erika Simmank with whom he had two sons (in 1959 and 1962). Heinze's first studio was at Villa Gustav Ziller, Augustusweg in Radebeul. In 1957 he created the animal sculpture (Sitting Dog) for the city of Hoyerswerda, one of Heinze's many contributions to public art.

In 1961 Heinze received a university teaching position in figure drawing with architectural specialisation at Dresden University of Technology. During this time he was research assistant to Walter Howard, professor for architectural sculpture. Soon after, in 1969 he became lecturer for architecture at Dresden University of Technology and taught the basics of design.

Together with Wilhelm Landgraf he created the group sculpture Ballspieler (alternative title: Studenten beim Sport in 1971) that was placed in front of Dresden University of Technology's student residences at Wundstraße. Heinze was lecturer for sculpture at Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1972 and became head of the department of sculpture in 1976, followed by his professorship in sculpting in 1979. Amongst his students was Thomas Jastram. Later in 1981 Heinze got a solo exhibition of his works at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and was awarded with the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic. In 1984 the Martin-Andersen-Nexö art award of the city of Dresden was conferred on Heinze.

In 1988 Heinze travelled to Italy for the first time, followed by a second trip in 1992. Heinze was working on a design for a memorial for the victims of the Bombing of Dresden in World War II since the 1960s. For his 80th birthday Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden dedicated the exhibition Figur und Porträt (figure and portrait) to Heinze at the Albertinum. Heinze's works are part of the collection of the Skulpturensammlung, the National Gallery, the Dresden City Museum, the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg Halle (Saale), the Museum der bildenden Künste as well as the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Museum am Theaterplatz.

Work Heinze's central motif is the statue - from statuette to colossal statue. His works are characterised by a reduction in substance and sparseness in their design language. Later on Heinze was inspired by the gothic sculptures of Wilhelm Lehmbruck with their long and thin bodies. Over the years Heinze's focus shifted from the visual idea to the artistic idea of his works.

Influenced by Hans Steger, whom Heinze met in 1955 and who understood sculpting as applied psychology, Heinze created several statues featuring particle-like crimping and sparse surfaces, while keeping his designs realistic.

Selected works Helmut Heinze's 2012 sculpture Chor der Überlebenden (Choir of Survivors) at Coventry Cathedral.

1957: Sitzender Hund – Tierplastik, Hoyerswerda 1958: Pinguine – Betonplastik, Zoo Hoyerswerda 1959: Lessingbüste – Hoyerswerda 1959–1962: Mutter-Kind-Gruppe – Bronzeguss, Frankfurt an der Oder (Aufstellung 1962) 1965: Wandflächengestaltung Kinderkrippe Seevorstadt-Ost, Dresden 1968: Fertigstellung der Bronzefigur Ingrid Krämer von Hans Steger – Schwimm- und Sprunghalle Freiberger Platz, Dresden 1971: Ballspieler – Plastikgruppe mit Wilhelm Landgraf, Studentenwohnheime Wundtstraße, Dresden 1973: Statuette Bernhard Kretzschmar (1. Fassung) – Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden 1976–1981: Großer Jüngling – Bronzeplastik, 1994 im Hausgarten des Sächsischen Staatsministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kunst aufgestellt 1976: Porträt des Schauspielers F. W. Junge, 2. Fassung – Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden 1984: Stehender weiblicher Akt – Bronze 1986–1989: Stehender junger Mann, 1. Fassung 1994–1996: Stehender junger Mann, Pulsnitzer Fassung – Park der Helios-Reha-Klinik Schloss Pulsnitz 2000: Fritz Löffler – Bronzestatue, Fritz-Löffler-Gymnasium Dresden 2004: Porträtstele Albert Fraenkel – Heidelberg 2012: Chor der Überlebenden – siebenfigürige Gruppe, Coventry Cathedral, Coventry

Selected exhibitions 1976: Galerie im Filmtheater Prager Straße, Dresden 1981: Helmut Heinze. Plastik. Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Dresden 1987: Wort und Werk Kunstausstellungen Leipzig 1988: Kleine Galerie Arneburg 1993: Plastiken, Zeichnungen und Fundstücke; Kunstausstellung Kühl, Dresden 2002: Plastiken und Zeichnungen Heinzes nlässlich des 70. Geburtstages; Ernst-Rietschel-Kulturring, Pulsnitz 2010: Porträts, Plastiken, Fundstücke und Zeichnungen; Galerie am Plan, Pirna 2012: Retrospektive; Kunstausstellung Kühl, Dresden 2012: Chor der Überlebenden – Entwürfe für die Opfer der Bombenangriffe auf Coventry und Dresden; Galerie im Geburtshaus Ernst Rietschels, Pulsnitz 2012: Figur und Porträt. Sonderausstellung; Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Albertinum