Günter Rittner

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Günter Rittner (11 March 1927 – 23 November 2020) was a German painter and illustrator famous for his portraits. He helped create the Gallery of Chancellors in Berlin with his pictures of Ludwig Erhard and Kurt Georg Kiesinger, established in 1976.

He was born in Breslau, Silesia. As a child he drew his grandparents, and at six he already painted portraits. In 1939 he painted soldiers in a military hospital and began taking evening classes in scenery painting, where he befriended Hans-Ulrich Buchwald. In 1943 his first self-portrait won a prize. His father wanted him to become an art teacher, but he chose a different path. In 1944 he was drafted into the military and became a prisoner of war in 1945. He drew fellow prisoners and later the camp guard and commander, who supplied him with materials.

After the war he supported his studies by painting members of the American occupation forces. In 1948 he moved to Munich and studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts until 1953. He was influenced by artists like Ernst Barlach, Käthe Kollwitz, Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. He started working as a freelancer in 1953 and traveled to Italy, France and England, painting cities and landscapes. His first public exhibition was in 1966 in Munich.

Rittner received many commissions from politics, business and science. He painted former chancellors Ludwig Erhard and Kurt Georg Kiesinger (portraits 1974–1976) and President Walter Scheel (1975). He also portrayed many other notable artists, scientists and public figures over the years. In 1978 he studied in Greece, and in 1979 he showed his work with the Kasseler Kunstverein.

In 1980 he married and moved with his family to Mallorca and then Gran Canaria; the marriage ended in divorce and they had a son. In 1989 he was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit. In 1996 he again painted Walter Scheel and donated the payment of DM 23,000 to a foundation for learning-disabled children.

Starting in 1986 Rittner spent winters on Gran Canaria, but he always felt connected to Munich, saying it inspired him. He died in Munich in 2020 at the age of 93.

Rittner favored an impressionist style and drew inspiration from classical music. He liked painting bright, lively city scenes, such as Venice in 1962, and famous Munich places. Later in life he turned to religious themes, using deep blacks to express suffering. He once described losing track of time in the studio, feeling a sense of catharsis when painting.