On the Verge of Destruction, 1957

Bernard Schultze is included in the Reinhard Ernst Collection as another participant in the Frankfurt Quadriga exhibition of December 1952, which is considered the nucleus of informal painting in Germany. Schultze was born in Schneidemühl, which is today part of Poland, in 1915. From 1934 to 1939 he studied at the University of Art Education in Berlin and at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. After his return from military service in 1945, the works he had created up until then were destroyed in the attack on the city of Berlin. From 1951 onwards, Schultze stayed regularly in Paris and made the acquaintance of André Lanskoy and Jean-Paul Riopelle. During this time, he created his first informal pictures. In 1947, Schultze finally moved to Frankfurt am Main, where he lived until 1968. In 1955, he married his wife Ursula, who also worked as a successful artist and took part in various exhibitions, such as Documenta 6 in 1977. Schultze received numerous honours and awards for his work. He died in Cologne in 2005.

In addition to his participation Peintures et sculptures non figuratives en Allemagne d´aujourd´hui at the Paris Cercle Volney and Glanz und Gestalt – Ungegenständliche Deutsche Kunst (Shine and shape – unrepresentative German art) in 1955 and Couleur vivante – Lebendige Farbe (Vibrant colour) in 1957, both at the Wiesbaden Museum. He was also represented at Documenta II in 1959 and Documenta 6 in 1977.

From 1954, Schultze dealt increasingly with plasticity in the pictorial space and he created spare sculptural works as well as initial reliefs, in which he glued individual details on to the On the Verge of Destruction from 1957 in the Reinhard Ernst Collection is included among Schultze’s collage works. Various pieces of fabric and mesh emerge from the beige background and meander across the pictorial surface. Individual areas are highlighted by blue and red splashes of colour, so its three-dimensionality is emphasised in places.

From 1961, Schultze developed what are migofs. This term describes the initially small-sized sculptural figures that are a mixture of artificial and natural creatures. Large-format sculptures only found their way into Schultze’s œuvre from 1992. There is also a large migof in the Reinhard Ernst Collection.