Introduction
The paintings created since 1970 by Hans Kutschke, born in Leitmeritz in 1945, resemble an undiscovered treasure. To the unbiased observer, they reveal a quiet, often melancholic world of images that captivates with its independent and precise observation.
Hans Kutschke's work as a whole seems to have been underappreciated thus far. This is due in no small part to the long-standing obstruction of his artistic career. The place he was granted at the Dresden Academy in 1967 was revoked because of a trivial doodle and the grotesque scandal it caused, and subsequent applications were rejected. He began studying restoration in 1974 as an alternative, but dropped out the following year. From then on, Hans Kutschke worked as a freelance artist in Bautzen, a thorn in the side of the ruling elite, as he was denied membership of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR until 1981. Early on – and to some extent as a substitute for the academic warmth of the nest – Kutschke cultivated encouraging and stimulating contacts with fellow painters. Among these, Harald Metzkes stands out, whose artistic self-assertion impressed the young painter and in whose turn to Cézanne he found essential confirmation. From 1980 onwards, Kutschke found fulfilment as a lecturer and, from 1984, as head of evening classes at the Dresden University of Music's branch in Nadelwitz near Bautzen. This position, previously held by Egon Pukall, offered him new opportunities for development as an artist and teacher. His expressive ‘Sudelbilder’ (scribbled pictures) from 1985/86 were an expression of inner pressure, reflecting the increasingly palpable frustration in the GDR. Everything was in flux. He left Bautzen for Dresden, experienced the upheavals of political change, and undertook numerous journeys. Years of searching followed. Today, his style appears calm, clear in composition, rich and balanced in colour, with the finest gradations in light and dark. People and landscapes remain at the centre of his work. He paints friends and companions, traces urban life, explores confusing pictorial spaces in the optical overlays of his shop window images. Kutschke lends us his calm, unagitated view of life, a very private variation on artistic truthfulness.
