reims

hans makart and frank glanz

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two austrian painters are exhibiting at the maison de la culture until may 20, as part of the events organized for the twentieth anniversary of the twinning between reims and salzburg. the twinning committee has secured the exclusive right to showcase these two exhibitions in one place. hans makart (1840 – 1884), ‘the second genius of salzburg’ after mozart, created large paintings depicting a dreamlike, fantasy world. the reims exhibition presents the graphic works—preliminary sketches for his major paintings—by this artist with an overloaded style. frank glanz, also from salzburg, found his calling in painting. the inability to communicate had tormented him. his first painting cured him. his research is very thorough. it is said that he ‘reinvented the technique of the old masters.’ a compliment from critics. present at the inauguration, he was happy to answer our questions. but most of all, he wanted to communicate.”

until may 20
four years of work. that’s the time it took glanz, born in 1949, to complete the thirty paintings he is presenting at the maison de la culture, which represent almost his entire body of work (40 paintings). his journey is unexpected. nothing predestined him for this outcome. ‘i studied interior architecture. the need to solve my communication problems led me to painting. now i am a painter because my paintings communicate for me.’ his sources of inspiration are numerous and varied. his paintings are the projection of his thoughts. they are a part of him. ‘communicating is an elementary thing, it is the beginning of art. the result is successful when the painting is alive.’ his work consists of two phases: the most important is the conception – the work – the second (the realization) cannot happen without the first step. glanz feels it is a great honor to exhibit alongside makart. ‘for us, makart is a mystery.’ but he retains his style, his ideas. ideas he tries to share even in the presentation of his paintings. ‘i always come to place my paintings, choose the frame. i look for a family atmosphere. here it’s wonderful, even a bit too much. people are drawn to it, they reach out to touch. that makes me very anxious. because touching one of my paintings would be worse than touching me.