Richard Oelze

About

Richard Oelze was a German painter associated with Surrealism, born on June 29, 1900, in Magdeburg, Germany. He trained as a lithographer from 1914 to 1918, attended the Bauhaus in Weimar studying under Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, and others, and later moved to Dresden in 1926 where he engaged with the local art scene, meeting influences like Will Grohmann and Otto Dix. In 1929, he encountered Surrealism in Switzerland, and by 1933, he settled in Paris, associating with André Breton, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, and other Surrealists. His work featured dreamlike landscapes, amorphous figures, and themes of existential alienation, often painted with old-master precision combined with techniques like frottage. During World War II, he served as a map-maker from 1940, was interned as a POW until 1946, then resettled in the Worpswede artists' colony until 1962, later moving to Gut Posteholz near Hameln. Oelze participated in key exhibitions including MoMA's Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism in 1936, documenta II (1959) and III (1964) in Kassel, and the 1968 Venice Biennale. His notable works like The Expectation (1935/36) and Daily Tribulations (1934) depict shadowy figures and morbid forms reflecting premonitions and wartime fears. Post-war, his paintings evolved into vaguely human silhouettes in distorted landscapes. He influenced artists like Christian d'Orgeix and was elected to the Academy of Arts, Berlin in 1965, though he remained reclusive and is now somewhat forgotten outside specialist circles. Oelze died on November 26, 1980.

Surrealism with old-master precision, dreamlike anthropomorphic landscapes, and existential themes