For more than forty years, the painter and draughtsman Erwin Pfrang has asserted himself as a solitary figure among the German artists of his generation. There is simply no one else who can compare with him. An imaginary line of tradition - from George Grosz to Renato Gattuso to Lucian Freud, for example - may illuminate certain historical affinities, but who in the contemporary world of art dares to stage such "realistic" figure tableaux in a comparably "fanatical" manner, which present an iconographic vocabulary of the most ludicrous kind with great urgency? Early on - during his time at the academy in Munich, which ended in 1979 - Pfrang declaredly strove to "not belong" and in this self-chosen role of anachronistic hermit he has led his life and created his work over the decades.
Pfrang's artistic productivity - both in terms of his paintings and his works on paper - is still undiminished and intense. In the last two years in particular, a wealth of drawings has been created alongside the paintings, including haunting portraits in small and medium formats as well as surprising, pictorially large sheets populated by a true cosmos of figurative and animalistic nature in combination with symbolic calligraphic elements. The artist works predominantly with the traditional media of charcoal, ink and sometimes also watercolour, sometimes creating areas washed over plaster with the help of a large Japanese brush, which is also used in Japanese calligraphy. What Pfrang said in 1997 about the genuine materialism of drawing still applies: “It is true that the drawing speaks, but while you are still drawing, what it speaks melts away on your tongue, dives back into the silence of its materiality, a process like the melting of a glaze over a solid ceramic body”. [1]
Pfrang's pictorial content is difficult to decipher. “My pictures do not interpret anything, but on the other hand they expect the same courtesy from the viewer-reader: not to be interpreted.“ [2] In predominantly figurative scenes, things seen or experienced mingle with daydreams, with distant events or memories, with the subconscious, the long-buried. It all seems to come together in an unfiltered and unpredictable way, with some things breaking through ruthlessly in the endless tangle of threads of thought. Pfrang's proximity to an artist such as Antonin Artaud, who had a stimulating effect on Giacometti and Wols as well as Fautrier and Dubuffet, can be described as essential. Artaud did not want his works on paper, with their inseparable combination of writing and drawing, to be regarded as "works of art" at all, but rather as diary-like "sketches": “exploratory or abusive forays in all directions of chance, possibility, opportunity and fate…in the wildness and confusion of their handwriting”. [3]
In his long-standing exploration of the poet James Joyce, for example in the cycles on "Ulysses" or "Dubliners" created since 1988, Pfrang has succeeded in counteracting any semblance of literary illustration. The linguistic structure of Joyce's poems virtually drove the manic draughtsman to "construct" a pictorial stream of fabulation in which the most divergent elements overlap simultaneously.
Pfrang's recent large-format paintings in particular thrive on this very tension of underpinning the never-ending representational reservoir of his pictorial imagination with a kind of "abstract" system that is capable of structuring even the most labyrinthine pictorial puzzles with their densely interwoven microcosms in the most unusual spatial perspectives. With his wide-awake artistic instinct, his "constructive" spirit in combination with his eminent colouristic sensibility, Pfrang is able to lend the "delirium" sparked here a tamed form time and again.
Michael Semff, 2024
[1] Erwin Pfrang, letter to Michael Semff, December 17, 1997. [2] Erwin Pfrang, “Entwurf einer Rede am 3. Juli”, in: Erwin Pfrang. Illustrationen zu James Joyce Dubliners, Center for Advanced Studies, LMU, Munich 2013, p.4 [3] Antonin Artaud, “Le visage humain”, in: Portraits et dessins par Antonin Artaud, exh. cat. Galerie Pierre, Paris 1947, no pag. 2025 David Nolan Gallery, New York; 2024 Delirium – Jahn und Jahn, München
Erwin Pfrang, b. Munich, 1951, studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1974–1979 and won the emerging-artist’s award of the Free State of Bavaria in 1982. He had his first exhibition at Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, in 1984. Until today the artist is represented by Jahn und Jahn in Munich and Lisbon. In 1987, he and his family emigrated to Italy, where they lived in Montepulciano, various villages in the Val d’Orcia south of Siena, and elsewhere until 2000. He received an artist’s fellowship from the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in 1989. His “Circe Drawings” inspired by James Joyce’s “Ulysses” were shown at the David Nolan Gallery, New York, in 1991. The “Dubliners Drawings” after Joyce’s collection of short stories, were created in 1994 and shown at the same gallery a year later. The artist lived in Germany from 2000 until 2003, when he returned to Italy, settling in Catania, Sicily. Since 2011, Pfrang has lived and worked in Berlin.
Museum collections which hold works by the artist include the Albertina, Vienna; Busch-Reisinger Museum (Harvard Art Museums), Cambridge, Massachusetts; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich; Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich; Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven.
Selected Solo Exhibitions: 2025 David Nolan Gallery, New York; 2024 Jahn und Jahn, Munich; 2023 Jahn und Jahn, Lisboa, Portugal; 2021 Katholische Akademie in Bayern, Munich; 2019 Buchheim Museum, Bernried; 2016 Axel Pairon Gallery, Knokke, Belgium; 2015, 2012, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2001, 1994, 1986 & 1984 Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich; 2013 Center for Advanced Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich; 2007 Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; 2007 Università degli Studi di Catania, Centro Voltaire, Catania, IT; 2006 Daniel Wein-berg Gallery, Los Angeles; 2005, 2002, 1999, 1995, 1991 Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York; 2004 Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland; 2000 The Norwood Gallery, Austin, Texas; 1999 Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, Munich; 1997 Daniel Weinberg Contemporary Art, San Francisco.
Bibliography:
Erwin Pfrang, Fingerspitzenhorizonte. Gedichte zu Bildern, Berlin 2022, 112 p.
Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, Erwin Pfrang. Das Gedächtnis der Hand, Munich 2021, 132 p.
Erwin Pfrang: Gedacht durch meine Augen, exh. cat. Buchheim Museum, ed. by Daniel J. Schreiber, Bernried 2019, 144 p.
Erwin Pfrang. Illustrationen zu James Joyce Dubliners, Center for Advanced Studies, LMU, Munich 2013, 20 p.
Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, “Illustrations with a Difference”, in: Joyce in Art, exh. cat. Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin 2004, p. 63.
Lynn Gawell, “The Muse Is Within: The Psyche in the Century of Science”, in: Dreams 1900–2000. Science, Art, and the Unconscious Mind, Cornell University Press, Binghamton University Art Museum, State University of New York, 1999, pp. 49–50.
Erwin Pfrang. Bilder, with texts by Peter Eikemeier and Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, ed. by Fred Jahn, exh. cat. Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, Munich, 1999, 66 p.
Carroll Dunham, “Erwin Pfrang”, in: Bomb, No. 69, December 1999, pp. 94–97.
Erwin Pfrang. I0 & LUI, ed. by David Nolan, exh. cat. Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York 1999, 39 p.
Erwin Pfrang. Arbeiten auf Papier, Odysseus und kein Ende, with texts by Claudia Denk, Tilman Falk and Michael Semff, 2 Vols, exh. cat. Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich 1998, Vol. I 71 p., Vol. II 46 p.
Alan Jones, “Erwin Pfrang”, in: 6 Personali, ed. by Plinio de Martiis, exh. cat. Castelluccio di Pienza—La Foce, Siena, 1997, pp. 26–28.
Roberta Smith, “Erwin Pfrang”, exh. review Nolan/Eckman Gallery, New York, in: The New York Times, October 20, 1995, p. 27.
James Joyce, Dubliner, transl. by Harald Beck, illustr. by Erwin Pfrang, with an epilogue by Wolfgang Hilbig, Leipzig 1994, 206 p.
Michael Kimmelmann, “James Joyce’s Ulysses Translated for the Eye”, exh. review David Nolan Gallery, in: The New York Times, September 13, 1991.
Erwin Pfrang: Circe Drawings Based on James Joyce’s Ulysses, with a text by Erwin Pfrang, exh. cat. David Nolan Gallery, New York 1991, 39 p.
Wolfgang Holler, Zeichenkunst der Gegenwart: Sammlung Prinz Franz von Bayern, exh. cat. Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich 1988, pp. 147–149.
Erwin Pfrang. Zeichnungen, with a text by Dieter Kuhrmann, exh. cat. Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich 1984.
Vita
1951
Erwin Pfrang is born in Munich
(lives an works in Berlin)
1974—1979
Studies at the Akademie der Bildende Künste in Munich
1982
State sponsorship prize of Freistaat Bayern
1987—1990
Lives and works in Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy
1989
Art scholarship of the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich
1990—1996
Lives and works in different places in Italy (Tuscany and Liguria)
1996—2000
Lives and works in SOLET, an abandoned travertine factory in Val d’Orcia, Tuscany
2000—2003
Returns to Germany (Munich and Augsburg)
2003
Returns to Italy, lives and works in Catania, Sicily
2011
Returns to Germany (Berlin)
Selected Solo Shows
2025
The Ghosts Ask – David Nolan Gallery, New York
2024
Delirium – Jahn und Jahn, Munich
2023
Blaring Silence – Jahn und Jahn, Munich
2021
Erwin Pfrang – Catholic Academy in Bavaria, Munich
2019
Erwin Pfrang. Gedacht durch meine Augen – Buchheim Museum, Bernried
2016
Axel Pairon Gallery, Knokke, Belgium
2015
Erwin Pfrang. Sonderausstellung in der Residenz – Galerie Fred Jahn / Residenz, Munich
Erwin Pfrang. Neue Arbeiten – Galerie Jahn Baaderstrasse, Munich
2013
Erwin Pfrang. Illustrationen zu James Joyce “Dubliner” (Deutsche Ausgabe, Reclam 1994) – Kunst am CAS / LMU (Center for Advanced Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Munich (cat.)
2012
Erwin Pfrang. Neue Bilder – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2010
Erwin Pfrang. Bilder – Galerie MZ, Augsburg
2009
Erwin Pfrang – Die Tankstelle, Berlin (Juerg Judin, Berlin, in cooperation with Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich)
Zeichnungen zu “James Joyce: Dubliner”, Reclam Verlag, Leipzig 1994, und andere Arbeiten aus der Sammlung Walter Bareiss – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2008
Erwin Pfrang. Gegenwelten – Kunstparterre München, Munich (cat.)
Erwin Pfrang. Zeichnungen – Wolfram Völcker Fine Art, Berlin
2007
Erwin Pfrang. Hades – Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in der Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (cat.)
Erwin Pfrang. Großformatige Tuschbilder 2005–2007 – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, and Norwood Fine Arts, Munich
Opere – Università degli Studi di Catania, Centro Voltaire, Catania, Italy
2006
Paintings – Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles
2005—2006
Hades and Other Drawings – Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
2005
Neue Bilder – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2004
Bilder, Zeichnungen und Graphik – Völcker & Freunde Galerie, Berlin
Circe Drawings – Bank of Ireland Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland
2002
Paintings and Drawings – Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
Paintings and Drawings – The Norwood Gallery, Brussels
2001
Bilder und Zeichnungen – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2000
Paintings and Drawings – The Norwood Gallery, Austin, Texas
1999
IO & LUI – Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York (cat.)
Bilder – Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, Munich (cat.)
1998
Arbeiten auf Papier & Odysseus und kein Ende – Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, Munich (with two catalogs in the slipcase)
1997—1998
Paintings and Drawings – Daniel Weinberg Contemporary Art, San Francisco
1997
6 Personali – Castelluccio di Pienza-La Foce, Italy
1995
Dubliner Drawings and Related Works – Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
1994
Bilder 1990–1994 – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
1991
Circe Drawings – David Nolan Gallery, New York (cat.)
Aquarelle – Galerie Jahn & Fusban, Munich
1986
Bilder – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
1984
Zeichnungen, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich (cat.)
Selected Group Shows
2023
Ungekämmte Bilder. Kunst ab 1960 aus der Sammlung Herzog Franz von Bayern – Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2020
Your Mask (Part III: Don’t Forget Your Mask) – Jahn und Jahn, Munich
2018
40+10+1 – Jahn und Jahn, Munich
2011
Bildnis und Figur. Oskar Coester / Frank Günzel / Walter Klose / Erwin Pfrang / Rudi Tröger / Katharina von Werz – Karl & Faber, Munich, in cooperation with Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2008
Deutsche Zeichnungen und Originalgrafik der Gegenwart – Wolfram Völcker Fine Art, Berlin
2007
Karl Bohrmann / Heinz Butz / Erwin Pfrang / Friedrich G. Scheuer / Rudi Tröger / Katharina von Werz. Bilder, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen – Karl & Faber, Munich, in cooperation with Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
2005
Extraordinary Visions. Hans Bellmer, Anne Chu, Amy Cutler, Amy Finkbeiner, Valerie Favre, George Grosz, Karl Hubbuch, Yun-Fei Ji, Jim Nutt, Erwin Pfrang, Rudolf Schlichter, Peter Stauss – Nolan / Eckman Gallery, New York
2004
Joyce in Art – Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin
2002
Drawn from a Family – Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine
2001
Dreams 1900–2000 – Passage de Retz, Paris
Unterwegs – Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste, Munich
- Nationale der Zeichnung – Zeughaus, Augsburg
2000
Dreams 1900–2000 – The Equitable Gallery, New York; Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna; Binghamton University Art Museum, Binghamton, NY
1994
- Nationale der Zeichnung Augsburg – Zeughaus, Augsburg
1993
Positionen – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich, and Michael Hasenclever Galerie, Munich
1992—1993
Drawn in the ’90s – Museum of Art, Katonah, NY; Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta; College of Art, Calgary; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Alabama
1990—1991
Erwerbungen 1982–1989. Ankäufe und Geschenke. Eine Auswahl – Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich
1990
Künstler der Galerie – Galerie Jahn & Fusban, Munich
1989
Künstler ’89 im Palais Preysing – Palais Preysing, Munich
1988—1989
Alberto Giacometti. Prints & Erwin Pfrang, Frank Günzel, Rudi Tröger. Drawings – David Nolan Gallery, New York
1988
Rückblick / Ausblick – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Gemeinschaftsausstellung mit Annette Lucks, Norbert Eberle und Frank Günzel – Galerie Buchmann, Basel, and Galerie Heike Curtze, Düsseldorf
Zeichenkunst der Gegenwart. Sammlung Prinz Franz von Bayern – Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich
1987
Norbert Eberle, Frank Günzel, Annette Lucks, Erwin Pfrang. Arbeiten auf Papier – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Stilleben – Galerie Biedermann, Munich
1986
Köpfe – Galerie Biedermann, Munich
1985
Gemeinschaftsausstellung mit Frank Günzel – Knöbelstraße, Munich
1983
Gemeinschaftsausstellung mit Annette Lucks und Norbert Eberle – Knöbelstraße, Munich
1982
Neuerwerbungen. Ankäufe / Geschenke / Dauerleihgaben – Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich