Standing Nude with Flower, 2005

Gernot Kissel  

Gernot Kissel is a German painter born in 1939 in Worms on the Rhine in Germany and died in 2008. An engineer and architect by training, he learned painting self-taught at the age of 18.

His still lifes and landscapes are typical expressionist works, made of vibrant colors and bold lines. Kissel is best known, however, for his female nudes or portraits which are painted with an almost disconcerting confidence. Her female figures have a direct and powerful sensuality and force the observer to admire them. Through them we feel the artist's love for women.

Kissel's work inevitably compares with the recognized and extremely fashionable German Expressionists of the 20th century, particularly Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel and in terms of portrait painting, Alexey von Jawlensky. Another comparison can be made to the elegant canvases of Kees Van Dongen or to the profound sense of color as used by British artist Sir Matthew Smith.

Gernot Kissel's paintings have over time been successfully exhibited in Germany but also in England in London, Richmond and Newcastle. In June 2008, he was also exhibited in New York. His works are currently visible in many museums and private collections throughout Europe.

Gernot Kissel published two books in Germany, namely

1. KISSEL FRAUEN - published in 1989, 240 pages

2. KISSEL Er selbst (Himself) - Women, landscapes and still lifes in 2007, 174 pages.

Most of the paintings shown are privately owned and have been sold at gallery exhibitions in Europe and the UK, as well as at art fairs.

Excerpts from these books:

"Gernot Kissel is the continuator of an important part of German art. He adds another vital chapter and is a person who preserves the beauty of art and the body. Painting with all his heart and soul , he keeps the fascination of color alive. It is a pleasure to see his works"

Prof. Dr. Helge Bathelt

"Who can deny that Kissel's works are, above all, excellent paintings? Since the days of Alexey Jawlensky, their intense colors and bold contrasts have remained unmatched"

Prof. Dr. Helge Bathelt

"The simplicity behind self-confident works of art is irritating, because we are accustomed to the complexity of theoretical artistic constructions, typical of the contemporary art scene, and we do not know the works of art which were painted with pure joy and passion, making them easy to understand without requiring interpretation and making them simply enjoyable through their pure beauty."

Dr. Cornelia Vogt-Beck