Norbert Schwontkowski Bremen, Germany, 1949-2013

Schwontkowski pursued studies in Free Painting at the University of Design in Bremen and the University of Fine Arts Hamburg from 1968 to 1973. In 1973, he held his inaugural solo exhibition at the Kunstschau Böttcherstraße in Bremen. The following year, he participated in the exhibition "20 Bremer" at the Kunsthalle Bremen. His artistic journey led him to engage in several group and solo exhibitions in countries such as New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Italy. Notably, in 1985, he was honored with the Bremen Advancement Award for Visual Arts. In 1994, he shared the Bremen Art Prize with Andreas Slominski, and during the same year, he was awarded the Overbeck Prize for Visual Arts.

The works by Norbert Schwontkowski emanate an enchanting allure that adeptly blends simplicity with profound depth. His work embodied a distinctive combination of playfulness and melancholy, embodying both a sense of naivety and sophistication. Schwontkowski's artistic approach defies easy categorization, seamlessly interweaving elements of abstraction, representation, and cartoon aesthetics.

With a minimalist style, he expertly crafted figurative art on sparse canvases, employing a minimal number of brush strokes to convey narratives while delicately blending gentle hues. An intriguing aspect of his process involved grinding his own pigments, directly mixing them on the canvas akin to working with pastels. By adding metal oxides to the pigments, a shimmering effect emerged on the surface, enabling gradual transformation over time.