Fifty Years of Painting

Guido Brink grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany between World War I and World War II. He lived through multiple crises of European culture centering in both these catastrophic eras. Economic and political instability on the Continent and the rise of Fascist and Communist ideologies presented a new challenge to world order.  From the perspective of twentieth century developments in the arts, Brink was born into a time of pivotal changes in the art world embodied in Dada, German Expressionism, Neue Sachlichkeit, and Surrealism. Dada's anti-art theme and Surrealism's retreat into the inner world of dreams, though prominent forces during Brink's early life, did not notably affect his artistic development. 

Brink vividly recalls his experience as a young art student compelled by Hitler, along with other art students, to view the famous 1937 exhibition of "Degenerate Art," organized at the former Munich Architectural Institute. Contrary to Hitler's intentions, the young artists were excited by the so-called degenerate art and would in time develop new directions in their own work inspired by the modern art of the condemned artists. Perhaps then too young to consider joining the generation of exiled artists who fled Hitler's regime, Brink was conscripted into the German army. As a German soldier, he witnessed the invasion and eventual retreat of the German army from the Russian front. Memories of the battle of Stalingrad appear repeatedly in his paintings, as in War and Peace: (Encirclement of Stalingrad), 1965.

While he was a student at the Academy of Fine Art in Düsseldorf from 1934 to 1939, Brink was a peer with the most gifted young artists in Europe. Among his colleagues at the Academy in Düsseldorf were Joseph Beuys, whose subsequent contributions to European post-war art influenced generations of conceptual artists, as well as Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Hoehme, who are known for their innovative experiments with painting. He returned to his studies in Paris in 1952 at the Academie de Paris where he encountered the anti-cubist Informel art of Jean Dubuffet and Jean Fautrier. Shortly thereafter, Brink left Europe permanently to immigrate to the United States in search of new opportunities. Thus, he chose not to address the aesthetic and political issues of post-war artists who remained in Europe. Perhaps his sense of liberation from the culture of his past is best expressed in the painting Apocalyptic Symbols, 1955-56, a strongly expressive work notably influenced by the American Abstract Expressionists. 

His arrival in the United States coincided with both the McCarthy era and the cold-war era, a time which positioned the Soviet Union against the United States and much of Western Europe. Artists and intellectuals in America during this period worked under the threat of political intimidation, and being known as an abstract painter was enough to attract charges of being un-American or a communist sympathizer. Artists’ decisions as to how to proceed were complex. Painters like Marc Rothko argued that abstraction provided liberation from subject matter. Realists argued that abstraction meant disengagement from the concerns of society. Whether to focus on the inner or the outer world, and whether to show hope or despair at the conditions manifesting themselves in both internal and external worlds presented other choices. How to proceed with implementing such choices---to reproduce, to analyze, or to express one’s insights---required further deliberations. Brink chose abstraction over representation, hope over despair, and expression over reproduction or analysis. He incorporates symbols that have meaning in his inner life such as those inspired by the Bible. But he also reflects the outer world as he draws upon images of war and technology. He typically avoids political themes, preferring instead the more universal themes of suffering and caring. 

It is difficult to locate precisely the roots of Brink's aesthetic in a single source. There are, however, traces of anguish and struggle in his work reminiscent of the era of the German Expressionists and Neue Sachlichkeit artists such as Otto Dix and Georg Grosz who laid bare in their art the personal and societal anguish of the twenties. However, with Brink the angst seems mainly personal rather than societal in its origins. With respect to narrative themes, he returns again and again to the Bible. Biblical themes are reflected more than once in the paintings chosen for the Haggerty exhibition: Job, 1998; Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1991; Canticle of the Three Youths in the Furnace, 1966; The Crown of Thorns, 1958; and in the triptych, Golgotha, 1996. Brink's interest in technology, fully articulated in his sculptures, on occasion asserts itself in his paintings, most notably when the humanoid figures so prominent in his sculptures creep into the painting compositions. Whatever his sources, he is never short of ideas.

Brink's paintings are skillfully executed and show great attention to technical detail in dealing with their painterly materials. Even when using broad, gestural strokes, the execution is clean and decisive. His palette is extensive, and includes vibrant reds, yellows, and greens, as well as somber dark blues and blacks. At times, he utilizes a soft palette consisting in part of muted whites, fleshtones, muted cranberry red, and pastels. Brink's compositions are generally tight as opposed to loose in structure. His shapes are typically organic abstractions with an occasional figurative component---a helmeted head, a humanoid element---but rarely more.

In Milwaukee from 1953, Brink joined an established community of artists centered at the Layton School and what became the art department of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He aligned himself with the Layton School in 1955, where he joined such colleagues as Edmund Lewandowski and the legendary Karl Priebe and quickly became a respected member of the Milwaukee artists'  community. His frequent showings in national venues as well as a strong presence in the Midwest attests to his success as a fine artist. With this Haggerty exhibition, Brink joins a group of prominent senior Milwaukee artists who have shown at the Haggerty Museum over the past several years. These include Fred Berman, Joseph Friebert, and the late Karl Priebe. As he celebrates his 89th birthday, Brink remains dedicated to the practice of his art and welcomes a stimulating intellectual challenge. His fifty years of work and his visible presence in the art community including the founding of the Milwaukee School of the Arts (now the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) rank him among the leading artists working in Wisconsin during the second half of the twentieth century.

Curtis L. Carter
 
 
 
 
 

Guido Brink: The Spirit of a Painter
 
 

The Haggerty Museum of Art's exhibition Fifty Years of Painting by Guido Brink is a celebration of the artistic production of a man who has devoted his life to the art of painting. Throughout his career, he has continually turned to religious subjects for inspiration and in the process has created an intimate spiritual body of work. 

Like the French artist Georges Rouault (1871-1958), Brink has been influenced by his own work with stained glass. After graduating from the Goethe-Oberreal Gymnasium in Düsseldorf, Brink moved to New York to work for his uncle Albert, who owned and operated the A.L. Brink Stained Glass Studio. The studio had an excellent reputation for skill in fashioning stained and cut glass, and was contracted by the Tiffany & Co. Studios to paint the glass required for secular and ecclesiastical window commissions. As the industry moved away from painting on glass towards creating the effects of atmosphere and illusionary details within the glass itself, Brink's work also began to reflect the abstract qualities of the medium. Through experimentation with different materials, Brink developed a new technique in the early 1950s using cement to bond slabs of glass. This work was first exhibited in 1953 at the Art in Architecture exhibit at the Architectural League in New York and is represented in the Haggerty exhibition by The Sweat Cloth of Holy Veronica, 1955, a slab glass and cement piece exhibited here for the first time. 

Brink's work in glass advanced the medium and became increasingly abstract. The artist exploits the translucent quality of glass in The Sweat Cloth of Holy Veronica, 1955, by limiting the composition and carefully arranging colors. The only details used to convey the miraculous appearance of Christ's image on the sweat cloth are the head of Christ, hands of Veronica, and the cloth she used to wipe his brow. The colors, design, and limited composition reflect the professional experience in New York which informs much of Brink's work.

The energy and spirit of Guido Brink can be attributed in part to the impact of challenging situations in his life. Brink began his studies at the Staatliche Kunstakademie (State Academy of Fine Arts), Düsseldorf in 1934, a year before Paul Klee was fired from the school’s faculty. The dismissal of Klee was part of the Nazi government's exercise of state control over art education. Klee’s influence, however, remained strong, and the government’s efforts to direct student opinion were often unsuccessful. To promote state-approved art, art students were taken in 1937 to an exhibition of  "Degenerate Art" (entartete Kunst) held in Munich. Contrary to the government's intent, the experience actually opened the students' eyes to the powerful expressionism of artists such as Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Emile Nolde and Wassily Kandinsky. 

Under the influence of his teacher, the Neo-Impressionist painter, Maximillian Clarenbach, Brink became a skillful painter and developed an interest in experimentation. Later, Brink became part of a coterie of German artists that included Gerhard Hoehme, Joseph Beuys, and Sigmar Polke. The influence of the war and the cultural isolation of Germany led many such artists to reject traditional approaches to painting and to develop spontaneous styles such as Abstract Expressionism, Art Informel, and Tachisme, the form of expressionist painting practiced in France. 

German artists such as Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer, and Guido Brink continued to deal individually with the war and its aftermath through their art. Brink's 1965 painting War and Peace (Encirclement of Stalingrad), depicts a German and Russian soldier flanking a redemptive Christ in front of a blood-red sun, reminding the viewer of the pathos of World War II. 

Moved by his World War II experience, Brink exploits the potential of art to stir emotion and evoke beauty. In contrast to the nihilism of Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), who he met in Düsseldorf, Brink uses vivid and varied colors in an attempt to create art that is uplifting. Before starting each painting, Brink spends considerable time contemplating his subject. He describes this process as therapeutic and evolutionary rather than mechanical. His aim has been to suggest in emotional terms the mysterious inner workings of nature, rather than to depict nature itself. Brink is an optimist who consciously seeks to create beauty by painting.

In 1953, Brink married Elisabeth "Ello" Hutmacher, and together they traveled to Paris. There, they were captivated by an exhibition of art from America featuring Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, Adolph Gottlieb, Arshile Gorky, and Willem de Kooning, among others. The exhibition, which they visited on several occasions, revealed the vibrancy of the American art scene, causing them to think again of New York. Soon after, Brink was invited to resume working in his uncle’s New York studio, so they decided to move. While in New York, the couple met Charlotte Weidler, a curator and collector of Paul Klee's work. Weidler was fascinated by Modern design and touted the avant-garde styles emanating from the Midwest. Frank Lloyd Wright, whose work was already well known in Europe, and Mies van der Rohe, were both major forces in the Midwest. Mies was in Chicago teaching at the Armour Institute and designing buildings for the Illinois Institute of Technology. When Brink was offered a position at the Conrad Schmitt Studio in Milwaukee by Bernard Gruenke, who knew of his experimentation with slab glass, he readily accepted.

To differentiate himself from his uncle, Albert Brink, whose reputation was strong among stained glass studios and artists, the younger Brink began signing his paintings with his Italian mother’s family name, Rossato, meaning "red". Brink likes to share that he is half Italian and half German. His cultural background, he believes, has made him "more creative, more spiritual, but less practical." Brink likes to ask questions and explore the unconventional. A classic example of this is the unabashed manner in which he approached Super Steel Products, Inc. for a position as artist-in-residence. Brink simply telephoned the company president, Fred Luber. Under the aegis of Luber, and with the help of the company's steelworkers, Brink began a collaboration that expanded his repertoire and exposed the workers to his creative process. Earlier in his career, Brink had proposed a joint venture with the Institute of Phonetics at the University of Bonn to explore the electronic manipulation of sound and space dynamics. Brink later used these  experiences to create kinetic sculptures. 

After having lived in Milwaukee for two years, Brink was appointed as an instructor at the Layton School of Art, where he taught painting in the European manner. He stressed experimentation and mastery of technical skills necessary for each student to reach his or her potential. In instructing his students, Brink had them first copy the Masters, such as Rembrandt and Rubens, and later study directly from nature. They discussed current and past trends in art, learned how to control paint, and painted en plein air. Students also explored their individual personalities as artists by painting self-portraits. Brink's lasting contribution to arts education came in 1974 when he helped found the Milwaukee School of the Arts and served as the school's first president. The School's continued growth and evolution into the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design is an enormous source of pride for Brink.

When it comes to the art of painting, technique comes first for Brink, but the need to have something to express is vital. He is most engaging when dealing with religious themes. In Apocalyptic Symbols, 1955-56, an early abstraction signed Guido Brink Rossato, each of the main colors - black, white, red, and green - represents one of four evils: war, pestilence, famine and death. Brink's mastery of painting is evident in his ability to create a sense of depth in an abstract composition. He admits to working to achieve the "right" balance of color so the composition appears to have been both effortlessly created and intrinsically dynamic. In this sense, Brink's work is as much about process, or the act of painting, as the final form.

Bold, calligraphic strokes of color and the use of black strengthen the image of the head of the suffering Christ hidden in the composition of The Crown of Thorns, 1958. The power of this painting has not gone unnoticed. "People have been asking us to sell The Crown of Thorns since it was first painted. We could have sold the painting many times over, but we did not because it has special meaning to us both," explained Ello. The Divine Image Maker, 1963, visually portrays the creation of the world. Two amorphous figures in the center are part of a maelstrom of rich colors and interwoven forms. In Brink's paintings, strong, gestured forms often with contrasting colors are used to give a sense of three-dimensionality and movement to the composition. 

For inspiration, Brink turns to the Old and New Testaments for the  "vivid imagery just asking for artistic expression". For as long as he can remember, Brink has been fascinated by the Book of Genesis. Ideas of providence, grace, destiny, and the invisible forces of creation inspire him. The story behind the Canticle of the Three Youths in the Furnace, 1966, comes, for example, from the Book of Daniel. Here, the three youths and Christ are shown in a cauldron of flames set off by bold strokes of black and blue. Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1991, a favorite painting of the artist, features stylized figures reminiscent of the forms in Brink's metalwork. According to the artist, this painting is highly personal; he sees himself as Jacob saying to the angel, "I will not let you go unless you bless me"(Genesis: 32:26).

Like a writer, Brink carefully selects a title which suggests a narrative for each of his paintings. The Divine Gardener, 2001, is one such example. It is based loosely on a smaller version by the German Expressionist painter Emil Nolde (1867-1956), and was produced at a pivotal time in Brink's career. It is the first painting Brink produced after suffering from a stroke in the summer of 2000. The ghostlike Christ figure is almost dwarfed by a robust garden of the artist's favorite flowers. Sunflowers symbolize beauty and happiness, and in this instance are life-affirming. The Divine Gardener also reflects the artist's recent change in direction from a predominantly abstract painting style to one based on recognizable figural elements. 

As a testament to his feelings of accomplishment, Brink cannot imagine what he would have done differently in his life. At age 89, Guido Brink is still painting and is presently at work on a series of paintings referencing contemporary events. 
 

Annemarie Sawkins 
 
 
 

Guido Brink Chronology
 
 

1913 
Born January 8 in Düsseldorf, Germany

1929 
Graduates from Goethe-Oberreal Gymnasium, Düsseldorf

1929 
Arrives in U.S. to work for his Uncle Albert at the A.L. Brink Studio which was contracted to produce painted glass for Tiffany & Co. Studios

1931 
Studies for a semester at Columbia University, NY

1934-39
Studies under Maximillian Clarenbach at the Staatliche Kunstakademie (State Academy of Fine Arts), Düsseldorf, where  Paul Klee and Heinrich Campendonck taught

1940-45 
Serves as Lieutenant in the German infantry on the Russian and Italian fronts

1952 
Receives fellowship to study at the Academie de Beaux-Arts, École des Metiers d’Art, Paris

1952 
Explores ideas of space dynamics and the electronic manipulation of sound in conjunction with the Institute of Phonetics, University of Bonn, Germany

1953 
Marries Elisabeth "Ello" Hutmacher, and moves first to New York City, then to Milwaukee

1953
Exhibits some of the first slab glass and cement panels in the Art in Architecture exhibit at the Architectural League, New York, NY

1953
Hired as stained-glass designer at Conrad Schmitt Studios, New Berlin, WI

1954 
Exhibits Saint Michael,a slab glass and cement piece in German Expressionists at the Layton Art Gallery,  Milwaukee, WI 

1955
Solo exhibition in the Wisconsin Gallery, Milwaukee Art Institute

1955-74 
Joins faculty of the Layton School of Art, Milwaukee, WI

1958
Exhibits painting in the Layton School of Art faculty exhibition

1958
Begins teaching art classes during the summer in Sheboygan, WI 

1959
Studies welding and metal fabrication at Milwaukee Area Technical College

1959
Exhibits The Phoenix, a welded steel, copper, and brass sculpture at the Fairweather-Hardin Gallery, Chicago, IL

1959
Paints Portrait of Father Francis C. Wade, S.J.,for Marquette University

1959 
Exhibits paintings in the Ravinia Festival Art Exhibition, Ravinia, WI 

1959
Exhibits at Maynard Meyer and Associates, Architects, Milwaukee, WI

1960 
Participates in three-faculty-member exhibition at the Layton School of Art

1960 
Exhibits Progression paintings 1-26 at the Irving Galleries, Milwaukee, WI

1961-62
Receives first Layton School of Art fellowship for a sabbatical year

1962 
Becomes Chair of the Layton School of Art faculty

1963
Solo retrospective exhibition featuring paintings, bryophyte  montages, and charcoal drawings in the Vogel Gallery at  the Layton School of Art

1963
Invited to exhibit at the 22nd International Watercolor Biennial, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY (February 19-April 28)

1966-present 
Guest artist-in-residence at Super Steel Products Corporation. Begins creating large-scale metal sculptures

1967 
Exhibits Energy No. 1 at the Richard Feigan Gallery,  Chicago, IL

1967
Exhibits fountain sculpture at the Horticultural Conservatory, Mitchell Park, Milwaukee, WI

1968 
Feature article by Margaret Fish in Wisconsin Architect, May 1968, p. 16-19

1968
Solo exhibition featuring Acoustic Space Sculpture at the Irving Galleries 

1968 
Collaborates with Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer,  on Electronic Sculpture

1970
Installs The Spirit of Manitou at Tippecanoe Branch Library,  Milwaukee, WI, assisted by the architectural firm Darby,  Bogner and Associates

1970 
Receives Award of Merit for outstanding work from the  Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)

1970-71 
Exhibition of Brink paintings given by Mr. and Mrs. William D.Vogel to the Milwaukee Performing Arts Center (now The Marcus Center for Performing Arts)

1971 
Lectures to the Racine Art Guild at the Charles A.Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI

1972 
Invited to exhibit at the International Outdoor Sculpture  Biennial, Milan, Italy

1972 
Installs Unfolding Red at the Brookfield Public Library,  Brookfield, WI

1972 
Featured in "Artist using a Factory as his Studio" WMVS-TV, Channel 10 

1972 
Exhibition of Brink paintings given by Mr. and Mrs. William D.Vogel to the East Library, Milwaukee, WI

1973 
Featured in Who is Who in American Art, 11th edition, (R.R. Bowker Co., NY, 1973)

1973
Featured at the Museo D’Arte Moderna, Milan, Italy

1973 
Sculpture featured with intaglio prints by Barbara Spitz at the Benjamin Galleries, Chicago, IL 

1973 
Installs Man and Technology on the Waukesha County  Technical Institute campus; show partially funded by the  Wisconsin Arts Council in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts and A.J. Natalizio, (rededicated September 12, 2001)

1974
Founds and becomes first president of the Milwaukee School of the Arts (now the Milwaukee Institute of Art and  Design)

1979 
Exhibition at Transworld Art Corporation Galleries, NY

1984
Installs The Unfolding in the lobby of the Center for the Humanities, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
 

1987 
Wins Milwaukee Art Commission competition with Deflected Jets, a polished stainless steel sculpture for  Engine House No. 29, Milwaukee, WI

1990 
Featured in Art's Place, a special program on the arts in Milwaukee, WMVS-TV

1991 
Exhibition Images: Paintings, Sculptures and Prints of Guido Brink at the Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI,  June 7-July 13

1992 
Honored as Founder of the Milwaukee Institute of Art  and Design with Guido Brink Retrospective '92 in the  Frederick Layton Gallery, MIAD. Exhibition catalogue by  Johann J.K. Reusch, with an introduction by Frank C. Lewis, Milwaukee: Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, 1992

1992 
Installs The Happy Go Luckies of Nature and Technology on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus

1993 
Installs Jubilationin front of the Irvin L. Young Auditorium, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as part of the 125th Centennial Celebration (funded through  Wisconsin's Percent for Art Program)

1993
Exhibition Programmed Virgins and Other Images at  Tory Folliard Gallery

1995 
Featured guest in interview with Jim Peck on I Remember Milwaukee, WMVS-TV 

1998
Donates the Ello and Guido Brink Collection of Portraits of the Teatro Maria era to Marquette University 

2002
Exhibition Fifty Years of Painting by Guido Brink, The Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art,  Marquette University, January 10-March 10, 2002