Herbert Zangs 1924-2003 windshield wiper series "Garage No. 53"
Price:
On request
Product details
| Product number: | 1152 |
| Artist: | Herbert Zangs |
| Style: | Informal, Abstract |
| Material: | Emulsion paint |
| Dimensions: | 36x46 cm |
Product description
One of the early works of windshield wiper pictures
from the 1950s, work no. 47 marked in the display case: "Garage 53"
36 x46 cm (factory dimensions)
Garage 53 – More than just a studio
Address: Duisburger Straße 53, Düsseldorf
Period: mainly 1953–late 1950s
It was originally a large car garage or workshop, which Herbert Zangs converted into a studio.
Not a classic studio with an easel and order - it was a chaotic room, full of paint cans, canvases, plaster, scraps of wood, stacks of paper and fragments of sculpture standing around.
The garage was a meeting place for the young avant-garde in Düsseldorf.
Fellow artists, gallery owners, critics and collectors came by - partly out of pure curiosity, partly to buy or exchange works.
Zangs was known for always trying out new techniques:
Windshield wiper technology
Wrapping (with wire, cords, gauze bandages)
Relief-like plaster work
Collages made from found objects
He often worked on dozens of pictures at the same time - works that had been started stood or lay everywhere.
There are anecdotes that visitors could watch Zangs for hours as he applied paint, wiped it off, burned material or worked on plaster surfaces.
Many found Zangs charismatic, others considered him eccentric - in any case, “Garage 53” was a place of creative energy.
Important work groups from Garage 53:
Windshield wiper pictures (from around 1953/54)
Wrappings (objects and reliefs wrapped with wire, gauze, cords)
White images (monochrome structures, often in white, with surface rhythm)
Material images (paper collages, objects with found objects)
Many of these works are now considered particularly important in Zangs' oeuvre. When you read in auction catalogs “made in Garage 53” or “from the Garage 53 era”, that is often a sign of quality.
Some works have the inscription on the back:
“Garage 53”
This is often highlighted at auctions or galleries because it documents the authenticity and time of creation.
Zangs is said to have once said:
> “The chaos in my studio is my archive.”
Contemporary witnesses reported that sometimes the only way to enter the garage was to carefully balance over works lying on the floor.
Artists from the later ZERO group (such as Mack and Piene) also stopped by occasionally, as the Düsseldorf art scene was relatively small and closely networked at the time.
It represents the artistic optimism of the post-war period in Düsseldorf.
Many of Zangs' innovative work groups were developed here.
The term has established itself as a trademark for Zangs’ work.
From 1941 to 1945, Zangs did military service in the Air Force and took part in the Second World War in Scandinavia, where he was eventually taken prisoner of war.
In the years 1945–1950 Zangs studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Otto Pankok and Wilhelm Herberholz are considered his most important academic teachers. Together with Günter Grass, whom he met during his studies, he was a bouncer at the Csikós restaurant in Düsseldorf's old town. Grass was very interested in Zangs' war experiences and mentioned him in the role of the painter Herbert Lankes in his novel The Tin Drum.
The first attempts at completed works are documented from 1953/54. From 1957 onwards, series of images were created in which the paint was applied with windscreen wipers and which anticipated the serial art movements of the 1960s.
In 1960, Zangs received the Vincent van Volkmer Art Prize and used the prize money to purchase a house in Cucuron, France (Provence). He spent many days there, including with the actor Alexander May and his family.
In 1965 Zangs moved to Paris, interrupted by a stay in New York and Canada in 1968–69. In 1969–78 he traveled to Japan, India, the South Seas, Australia and Africa. From 1970 onwards whitening was done again.
Provenance: Aldag auction house / actor Uwe Friedrichsen Hamburg.
from the 1950s, work no. 47 marked in the display case: "Garage 53"
36 x46 cm (factory dimensions)
Garage 53 – More than just a studio
Address: Duisburger Straße 53, Düsseldorf
Period: mainly 1953–late 1950s
It was originally a large car garage or workshop, which Herbert Zangs converted into a studio.
Not a classic studio with an easel and order - it was a chaotic room, full of paint cans, canvases, plaster, scraps of wood, stacks of paper and fragments of sculpture standing around.
The garage was a meeting place for the young avant-garde in Düsseldorf.
Fellow artists, gallery owners, critics and collectors came by - partly out of pure curiosity, partly to buy or exchange works.
Zangs was known for always trying out new techniques:
Windshield wiper technology
Wrapping (with wire, cords, gauze bandages)
Relief-like plaster work
Collages made from found objects
He often worked on dozens of pictures at the same time - works that had been started stood or lay everywhere.
There are anecdotes that visitors could watch Zangs for hours as he applied paint, wiped it off, burned material or worked on plaster surfaces.
Many found Zangs charismatic, others considered him eccentric - in any case, “Garage 53” was a place of creative energy.
Important work groups from Garage 53:
Windshield wiper pictures (from around 1953/54)
Wrappings (objects and reliefs wrapped with wire, gauze, cords)
White images (monochrome structures, often in white, with surface rhythm)
Material images (paper collages, objects with found objects)
Many of these works are now considered particularly important in Zangs' oeuvre. When you read in auction catalogs “made in Garage 53” or “from the Garage 53 era”, that is often a sign of quality.
Some works have the inscription on the back:
“Garage 53”
This is often highlighted at auctions or galleries because it documents the authenticity and time of creation.
Zangs is said to have once said:
> “The chaos in my studio is my archive.”
Contemporary witnesses reported that sometimes the only way to enter the garage was to carefully balance over works lying on the floor.
Artists from the later ZERO group (such as Mack and Piene) also stopped by occasionally, as the Düsseldorf art scene was relatively small and closely networked at the time.
It represents the artistic optimism of the post-war period in Düsseldorf.
Many of Zangs' innovative work groups were developed here.
The term has established itself as a trademark for Zangs’ work.
From 1941 to 1945, Zangs did military service in the Air Force and took part in the Second World War in Scandinavia, where he was eventually taken prisoner of war.
In the years 1945–1950 Zangs studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Otto Pankok and Wilhelm Herberholz are considered his most important academic teachers. Together with Günter Grass, whom he met during his studies, he was a bouncer at the Csikós restaurant in Düsseldorf's old town. Grass was very interested in Zangs' war experiences and mentioned him in the role of the painter Herbert Lankes in his novel The Tin Drum.
The first attempts at completed works are documented from 1953/54. From 1957 onwards, series of images were created in which the paint was applied with windscreen wipers and which anticipated the serial art movements of the 1960s.
In 1960, Zangs received the Vincent van Volkmer Art Prize and used the prize money to purchase a house in Cucuron, France (Provence). He spent many days there, including with the actor Alexander May and his family.
In 1965 Zangs moved to Paris, interrupted by a stay in New York and Canada in 1968–69. In 1969–78 he traveled to Japan, India, the South Seas, Australia and Africa. From 1970 onwards whitening was done again.
Provenance: Aldag auction house / actor Uwe Friedrichsen Hamburg.