Frieder Burda

Frieder Burda ( born April 29, 1936 in Gengenbach, Baden- Württemberg ) is a German art collector and an honorary citizen of Baden -Baden.

Life

Frieder Burda is the second son of the publisher Franz Burda and his wife Aenne Burda.

Together with the older brother and younger brother Franz Hubert Frieder Burda grew up in Offenburg. After leaving school in Offenburg, Triberg and in Switzerland, he completed a printer and a publisher teaching. He was trained in the consolidated his father's business. Later, a longer stay in France, where Frieder Burda worked in a magazine publishing followed. He spent several years afterwards in England and the USA, before he took over a printing company in Darmstadt. This operation he developed into one of the leading commercial printers in Europe.

In 1973 Burda joined the Offenburg headquarters of the magazine publisher and worked in various areas of the printing and publishing empire in the following years. He was responsible for finance, administration and investments. After the death of his father Franz Burda in 1986, he inherited with his brother Franz an extensive portfolio, while his brother Hubert the whole pressure and took over the publishing industry.

His life's work was Frieder Burda in art. Early 30s he bought in 1968 a picture of the contemporary painter Lucio Fontana for about 3500 Mark and laid the foundation for a top-class art collection. In this way, he put one hand a tradition of his father, who had collected works by important expressionist painters, on the other hand Burda tried to differentiate themselves by turning to contemporary painting from his father.

Since the mid- 1980s Burda then collected intensively and systematically the works of Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke. Of these exhibits from all stages of life in the collection are available. They give an almost complete insight into business development and work of the two artists who have influenced contemporary art critical. Especially in view of these artists the " Sammlung Frieder Burda " internationally regarded as one of the most significant and most quality private collections.

It consisted in 2002 of almost 500 works of modern and contemporary art. At the beginning of his collecting activities Burda decided often spontaneous and impulsive for the purchase of a work, but since about 15 years, the collection has grown organically, systematically and consistently - always under his high personal commitment. The core of the collection consists of expressionist tendencies. It focuses on a manageable number of artists that are collected with determination and of which extensive work complexes are present. The German expressionism with works by Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wilhelm Lehmbruck and August Macke marks the starting point of the collection.

A unique in Germany of works of the late Pablo Picasso includes in itself: In his last years, the artist came to an expressive, unique representation of the human figure and his facial expressions, gestures and movement - this long time is controversial late work for several years as the last peak in wide range of Picasso's work in high esteem. The American abstract expressionism with groups of works by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko is another focus of the collection. The selection of images makes it possible to follow the development of artists of figurative compositions, to generous gestures and abstract color fields.

Particularly comprehensive finally the collection documents the German art of the second post-war generation, the Frieder Burda peers. Georg Baselitz is very strongly represented. From its partner and friend of the 1960s, Eugen Beautiful Beck, of which a total of only 40 plants have survived, two main works are in the collection. Also works by the Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer were collected intensively from Burda.

In order to preserve the collection and make it available to the public, 1998, the " Frieder Burda Foundation " was founded. This foundation funded the construction of " Sammlung Frieder Burda " in Baden -Baden and also comes in full for its ongoing costs. The purpose of the Foundation is the promotion of art, culture and science. This claim is realized primarily by the Museum of Modern Art, in which the art collection of the public benefactor was made available. The only founder is Frieder Burda.

Was tasked with the construction of the New York architect Richard Meier, who implemented the 20 - million - euro project to autumn 2004. In October 2004, Burda was able to open the museum in Baden -Baden Baden Baden.

Awards, Prizes

• 2002 Awarded the Art Cologne Prize to arts patron Frieder Burda
• 2005 award of the honorary citizenship of the city of Baden -Baden Frieder Burda

Editorship

• Marc Chagall, Jean -Louis Prat, Frieder Burda: Chagall. In a new light. Book accompanying the exhibition at the Museum Frieder Burda ( Hardcover ) Publisher Hatje Cantz Verlag; 2006, ISBN 3775718451
• Pablo Picasso, Frieder Burda, Klaus Gallwitz, Heiner Bastian Picasso. From Mougins to Baden -Baden. The Late Picasso (Hardcover ) Publisher Hatje Cantz Verlag; 2005, ISBN 3775717072
• Heiner Bastian Collection Frieder Burda. Catalogue (Hardcover ) Publisher Hatje Cantz Verlag; 2004, ISBN 3775714650
• Richard Meier, Gerhard Everke, Klaus Gallwitz, Frieder Burda, Wolfgang Pehnt, Klaus Gallwitz, Isabel Greschat, Frieder Burda Foundation: Richard Meier. New museum collection Frieder Burda in Baden -Baden. Publication on the museum opened in October 2004 ( Paperback ) Publisher Hatje Cantz Verlag; 2004, ISBN 3775715304