MARLENE VON DÜRCKHEIM
Cover: Glass and Bowl, 2012, oil on Belgian linen 20x20 in SOLD
Ellipsis Art is an art advisory firm that provides a full range of services in art acquisition, collection management, and curatorial advice.
Our mission is to create a direct dialogue between collectors and select artists and artists’ estates not currently represented by galleries.
By working exclusively with artists and their estates, we create a unique opportunity for collectors to acquire art directly from artists.
ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER / Art Advisor
MARLENE VON DÜRCKHEIM
There are artists whose life - from early childhood experiences, to their academic studies, to their adulthood - strongly reflects in their art. Marlene Von Dürckheim is no exception. Growing up on a farm in South Africa, where books, pictures and music were constant companions, in an otherwise secluded rural existence, it was the stories and images conjured up in her imagination, that made her aware of art as an expression of self.
“In my work I attempt to distill the essence of the objects, landscapes and figures, not the mere miming of the appearances, for this gives the paintings their inherent meaning. I distill these images through my memory of them. They become fragments of these memories to be reassembled, expressing my philosophy of life in a contemplative way.”
Marlene’s paintings are her synthesis of the two most significant and inspiring movements for the artist: Modernism and Cubism. It is the simplification of form in classical modern tradition of Cezanne and Matisse, and the Cubist stripping down of forms and ideas into two-dimensional, yet meditative depth, that helped create her own visual language.
In her Cubist-inspired works, the colors are muted and the forms are crisp - geometric, defined and purposeful. In the depiction of bottles and guitars, we see Marlene’s love for Cubist compositions by Picasso and Braque. These structured works are reminiscent of syncopated sounds of music, a performance medium that’s very dear to the artist. Even these rigid, geometric forms are lyrically balanced.
“…the root of my inspiration is music - Mozart, Bach. Again it is the structure of their compositions that inspire me most. Nothing, not a single instrument, is redundant, and yet their work is so complex, varied and utterly up-lifting. Obviously one can not paint music nor is painting music, but it is these two art forms that speak to the same emotions.”
Marlene’s graduate degree in Classics became a constant influence in her work. In the color-saturated abstract forms of landscapes, we see the artist’s admiration of paintings by Richard Diebernkorn, who as the artist describes “not only captures depth, but also the radiance of light”, an element she considers of great value in painting.
In her landscapes, we see the lover of nature. Organized structurally and spatially within the confines of a canvas, her paintings, however, exist, breathe and extend well beyond. The landscapes in their thick application of paint, that seem to exude outward and then back inward, are suggestive of the ancient lands, and the ebb and flow of the universe.
“My inspiration is as varied as the influences on my work. I am moved by the sea, its movement and ever changing colors. The sea evokes in me an inexplicable longing, of time passing, of space, of freedom and its variable moods. Then there are also the rocks along the coast and the mountains here in the Western Cape, showing the geological passage of time laid bare, but still these rocks have majesty, an architecture of their own. It is the structure, form and space of Nature, its grandeur and geometry, that inspire me.”
“Life, like art, is a journey of becoming.”
-
Marlene Von Dürckheim
Nine Muses, 2019, oil on canvas 783/4 x 47¼ in
Stillife 4, 2018, oil and graphite on paper, 20 x 28 in. SOLD
Bottles, Glass and Violin, 2019, oil on Belgian linen, 31x23 in (SOLD)
Reflections upon a Violin, 2012, oil on Belgian linen, 37x39 in
Dreams of Paris 1, 2019, oil and charcoal on paper 17 x 12 in.
Dreams of Paris 2, 2019, oil and charcoal on paper 17 x 12 in.
Still Life 4, February 2019, oil and charcoal on paper, 17 x 12 in.
Study for Bottles, Glass & Violin, 2019, oil and charcoal on paper, 17 x 12 in.
Violin and Glass 1, 2017, oil on Belgian linen, 29x17 cm
Silent Music, 2019, oil on mapping paper on board, 33x38 in
oil on canvas, 8X24 in
Stones of Greece (triptych), 2019,
oil on canvas, 8x24 in
Memories of a Coastal Landscape, 2016,
oil on mapping paper on board, 7x30 in
River Mouth, Kleinmond, 2015, oil on Belgian linen, 16.5x18.5 in
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Praelexis, Technopark, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2016 “Tides of Time” Exhibition, IS Art Gallery, Franschhoek, South Africa
2015 Stellenbosch Art Galery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2010 Smelik & Stokking Gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands
2008 Smelik & Stokking Gallery, The Hague, Amsterdam & Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1998 South African Arts Association, Worcester, South Africa
1998 South African Arts Association, Bellville (Cape Town), South Africa
1995 Sembach Gallery, Hout Bay, South Africa
1993 Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
1992 University of Stellenbosch Art Gallery, Stellenbosch, South Africa
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 Art Association of Stellenbosch
2018-2019 Studio G, Hermanus and Cape Town
2018 “Persephone 2”, Imibala Gallery, Somerset West
2018 Die Kunskamer, Cape Town
2018 IS Art, Franschhoek
2018 Stellenbosch Art Gallery, Stellenbosch
2018 Arts Association of Stellenbosch
2017 Guest Artist at Arts Association Stellenbosch at Stellenbosch
2016 “Masterpiece” Johans Borman Galery, Newlands, Cape Town
2016 “Aspects of Abstraction II” Johans Borman Gallery, Cape Town
1992- 2016 Permanent group exhibitions at: Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, In Fin Art Building, Newlands, Cape Town, Ebony Design Cape Town and Franschhoek, IS Art Franschhoek, Johann Bloem Gallery, Jeffreys Bay
2015 Cape Town Art Fair
2015 SAADA Antiques Fair & Design Expo, Cape Town
2014 “Black & White” Johans Borman Gallery, Newlands, Cape Town
2014 “Still” Johans Borman Gallery, Newlands, Cape Town
2014 50th SAADA Antiques Fair, Cape Town
2014 Cape Town Art Fair
2012 IS Art, Franschhoek, December 2012
2009 40th Jubilee Exhibition, Smelik & Stokking Galeries, Rotterdam, Amsterdam
2009 “Art that inspires”, Johans Borman Gallery, Cape Town
2006 - 2008 Grand Provence, Franschhoek
2006 – 2008 Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch
2004 - 2005 With Manfred Mueller Preuss, Galerie Petra Lange, Berlin, Germany
2002 Exhibition of Contemporary South African Art, Chelsea, London, England
2001 With Kaffie Pretorius, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch
1993 With Leon de Bliquy, Botega Gallery, Oudtshoorn, South Africa
1990 With Hannatjie de Kock, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch
ELLIPSIS ART FOUNDER
ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER
2004, NYU
Masters Degree, Visual Arts Administration
Published graduate thesis focused on building a sustainable global market for Russian Contemporary Art, tracing Russian art through its various historical movements, from Soviet era to the Russian Non-Conformist Movement, to discussion of today’s contemporary art in Russia.
2005 - 2014
Director of Mimi Ferzt Gallery in New York City, which specialized in Russian Non-Conformist and Contemporary Art. Organized important curatorial exhibitions of prominent Russian artists, and successfully placed them in important private and public art collections around the world.
Angelica is a Private Art Advisor working with a variety of artists and consulting private clients. She is a member of the NYU Alumni Council and ArtTable, the leadership organization for professional women in the visual arts.
ANGELICA SEMMELBAUER
Art Advisor
angelica@ellipsis-art.com