Our guest on 25.04.2010 Markus Lüpertz, Artist and Former Director, Dusseldorf Art Academy

Markus Lüpertz is one of Germany’s top contemporary artists. His work is often considered “provocative” – and Lüpertz’s large-scale paintings and sculptures are featured in many major art collections. In 2009, the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn organized a major retrospective of Lüpertz’s work. From 1987 until 2009, he was head of the Dusseldorf Art Academy and is now planning to open his own school for the arts in Potsdam, where his publishing house and radio station would also be based. Father of five Lüpertz writes poetry and prose and he’s a passionate soccer player as well as enjoying boxing and hunting. Lüpertz plays piano in a nine-member jazz band.

Markus Lüpertz was born in Bohemia in what is now the Czech Republic in 1941, at the height of World War II. Seven years later, he and his parents moved to the Rhineland in Germany. He got a start in the art world painting labels for wine bottles. Though his teacher dismissed him for “lack of talent,” the 69-year-old is today known as one of the most prominent yet controversial Germany contemporary artists. After retiring as director of the prestigious Dusseldorf Art Academy – which he led for over two decades – the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn organized a major retrospective of Lüpertz’s work. He now plans to open his own school for the arts in Potsdam, where his publishing house and radio station would also be based. A father of five, Lüpertz writes poetry and prose. A passionate soccer player, he plays on a team and also enjoys boxing and hunting. Lüpertz plays piano in a nine-member jazz band.