Bernard Schultze

Early Life, Family and Training

Bernard Schultze was born on 31 May 1915 in Schneidemühl, now Piła, Poland. His formative years were shaped by a significant relocation to Berlin in 1921. This move placed him at the center of a shifting European landscape, though his early creative output would be largely erased by history. A 1945 air raid on Berlin destroyed the works he had produced before that time, leaving a void in his early professional record.

His formal training was rigorous and centered in the major German art hubs. Between 1934 and 1939, Schultze studied at the University of Art Education in Berlin and the Art Academy in Düsseldorf. These years of study provided the technical foundation that he would later dismantle through abstraction. His personal life became intertwined with the art world on 7 July 1955, when he married the painter Ursula Bluhm.

Artistic Movements and Groups

Schultze functioned as a leading exponent of gestural abstraction in Europe, moving far beyond the representational constraints that defined his early training. His commitment to the unconscious-guided creative process aligned him with the international currents of action painting and tachism. These were not mere stylistic choices but a necessary break from the rigid conventions of the past. By embracing these methods, he helped establish himself as one of the fathers of the Art Informel movement in Germany.

His collaborative efforts were central to the development of post-war German abstraction. In 1952, he co-founded the Quadriga group alongside Karl Otto Götz and other artists, a move that signaled a decisive shift toward non-figurative expression. This period of intense experimentation continued when he joined Zen 49 in 1955. Through these groups, Schultze helped define a new visual language that prioritized spontaneity and the physical act of creation over static composition.

Technique and Artistic Style

Schultze’s visual language is defined by a restless, gestural abstraction. He utilized unconscious-guided creative processes, drawing direct inspiration from surrealist écriture automatique to bypass traditional composition. This approach resulted in works where brilliant, fluorescent colors morph in and out of implied representation. His surfaces are rarely flat; instead, they function as topographical landscapes where color and form collide. By 1956, he began building the surface of his paintings into high relief, moving away from the two-dimensional plane toward a more tactile, sculptural reality.

This evolution reached its peak with the development of his Migofs. These works are not merely paintings but complex assemblages, relief images, and room-filling sculptures that occupy physical space. They function as hybrid entities, blending animal, plant, and human imagery into strange, organic structures. These forms often appear as if they are in a state of constant flux, mirroring the biological and cosmic systems he sought to represent. His technique emphasizes the tension between growth and decay, using texture to simulate the messy, irregular processes of the natural world.

Key Works and Artistic Periods

Schultze’s evolution is marked by a steady departure from the flat plane. During his time in Frankfurt, he developed relief images known as tabuskris, utilizing collaged everyday objects to break the traditional boundaries of the canvas. This experimentation with physical depth led to the creation of his Migofs from 1961 onwards. These works began as extensions of the canvas or works on paper, eventually maturing into free-standing, room-filling sculptures and environments. By 1965, he was incorporating mannequins into these freestanding sculptures of color, pushing the organic, hybrid imagery of his Migofs into a more literal, three-dimensional space.

His later decades show a disciplined shift in palette and surface. The 1970s were defined by his grisaille pictures, a stark contrast to the high-relief textures of his earlier years. This was followed by a period in the 1980s where he utilized saturated colors paired with surfaces designed to create deep, sculptural space. Even in his final decade, the artist maintained a distinct formal language, producing watercolors in pastel tones during the 1990s. His output remained diverse, ranging from large oil paintings and drawings in 1974 to the complex, multi-layered assemblages that defined his mid-career.

• Endymion (1955)
• Neelt (1958)
• Still Within Society (1964)
• Grotesque Promenade (1964)
• Body Cascades (1973)

Where to See the Works Today

Schultze’s presence in major institutional collections confirms his standing in the post-war European landscape. In Germany, his work is anchored in several key locations. The Museum Ludwig in Cologne holds a significant portion of his estate, while the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich maintain his works within their permanent holdings. His reach extends to the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck in Remagen and the ZKM Museum für Neue Kunst in Karlsruhe. These collections preserve the physical reality of his relief images and sculptures, ensuring his material experiments remain accessible to those studying the evolution of German abstraction.

International visibility for his practice is secured through high-profile museums outside of Germany. The Tate Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York both hold his works, placing his gestural abstractions within a global context. In Germany, his paintings are also part of the collection at the Hammerschmidt Villa in Bonn. These institutions provide the necessary scale to view his larger, more complex compositions in their intended environments.

• Endymion, about 1955 - Städel Museum, Frankfurt
• Neelt, about 1958 - Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Carlsruhe
• Still Within Society, about 1964 - Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich
• Grotesque Promenade, about 1964 - Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich
• Body Cascades, about 1973 - Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich

Later Years and Death

Schultze remained a fixture in the cultural landscape of Cologne from 1968 until his death. He and his wife, the painter Ursula Bluhm, were central figures in the city's artistic life. Following her death in 1999, he continued his practice in Cologne until he died there on 14 April 2005.

His presence in the city was more than just residential; he was a prominent figure in its cultural sphere. His long-term commitment to the region ensured that his influence remained anchored in the post-war German art scene. He died in Cologne, leaving behind a body of work that remains held in major international collections.