Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff | Art Store

Van Ham Art Estate presents "Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff"

Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff (1923-2011) and Martin Matschinsky (1921-2020) have been active as an artist couple since 1955 and have signed their works under the joint name "Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff" since 1970. Their oeuvre - largely determined by their work with metal - is one of the most important independent contributions to post-war art in Germany. They explore the interplay between light and shadow, shell and space in a variety of ways. The curved forms of solitary, welded and twisted rods and wires unfold energetically into the space. Steel, copper and brass are sometimes experimentally combined with found objects such as shells, stones and bones and lyrically titled. Her iconic, monumental stainless steel sculptures have left their mark on public spaces worldwide..

Since 2022, VAN HAM Art Estate has represented the artistic estate of Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff for the Matschinsky-Denninghoff Foundation of the Berlinische Galerie. For further information on the artist couple and VAN HAM Art Estate, please visit the official Homepage.

After the Second World War, Martin Matschinsky had initially trained as an actor at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich and was then inspired by Brigitte Meier-Denninghoff for modern art. After studying in Berlin and Munich, the artist had assisted Henry Moore with his works in 1948, a key experience that was to become formative for the couple's view of art. Working with metal was a decisive factor in the joint work of the artist couple, first in Munich, from the 1960s in Paris and then in the early 1970s in Berlin, where they settled.

Their work is one of the most important independent contributions to post-war art in Germany and gained international recognition. In 1959 and 1964 they took part in the documenta in Kassel and in 1962 in the Venice Biennale, were invited to the EXPO in Montreal in 1967 and were honoured with numerous exhibitions in Germany and internationally. For example, the Folkwang Museum in Essen (1967), the National Gallery in Berlin (1970), the Berlin Academy of Arts (1985) and the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg (1985) showed retrospective monographic exhibitions early on. On the occasion of Berlin's 750th anniversary in 1987, her most famous work, "Berlin", was placed on the central reservation of Tauentzienstraße at the Europa Center. Her sculpture "Trinity" (1993) on the museum forecourt of the Berlinische Galerie became a recognisable landmark of the Landesmuseum.

In the 1950s, the pair mostly used brass rods and pewter. They combined these into constructive, ray-shaped or cloth-like folded and yet natural-looking structures. They explored the interplay between light and shadow, shell and space in a variety of ways.

Later they preferred prefabricated wire rods, sheets and tubes made of chrome-nickel steel and assembled them by soldering or welding to form the characteristic organic-looking tubular bodies.

From the mid-1980s onwards, they also created small-format, fragile sculptures.

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Further information on the artist couple can be found on the official homepage of Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff:

Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff