Schubert's Song Cycle in Watercolor
From August 2 to September 23, 2020, the Degewo Hochhaus Galerie at Raoul-Wallenberg-Straße 40/42 in Berlin-Marzahn showcased the solo exhibition "The Winter Journey" by Heidrun Kaiser. The watercolor painter leads the Montagsmaler from Biesdorf, whose members the gallery regularly presents in solo exhibitions.
The Essentials at a Glance
- The exhibition ran from August 2 to September 23, 2020.
- Heidrun Kaiser painted watercolors inspired by Franz Schubert's song cycle "Winterreise".
- Displayed were winter landscapes, crows, trees, and flowers.
- The artist has been leading the Montagsmaler from Biesdorf since 2014.
The artist Heidrun Kaiser
Drawing and watercolor painting have accompanied Heidrun Kaiser throughout her life. She was born in Döbeln in 1950, studied mathematics in Dresden, and later worked in the organization of large databases. Since 1975, she has lived in Berlin.
She deepened her painting skills in courses at the adult education center with artists Elena Olsen, Janina Egert, and Anke Rische. In 2011, she joined the Monday Painters from Biesdorf, and since 2014, she has led the group. In 2020, the twelve painters met weekly at the Biesdorf Community Center, Alt-Biesdorf 15.
Inspiration from the art song
The focus of the exhibition was a theme that has accompanied the artist throughout her life: classical music, especially the art song. Songs by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Gustav Mahler are important to her. This led to the desire to approach music through painting as well.
"This approach to Franz Schubert's 'Winterreise', which I was able to listen to often, became my central theme for the first half of 2020 and thus for this exhibition," says Heidrun Kaiser.
From winter landscapes to crows to flowers
Starting from the song "Die Krähe," the painter explored these often misunderstood birds in her paintings. Another theme is landscapes and nature, whether trees or flowers. Here, too, there was a connection to the song cycle: "Der Lindenbaum" has long become a folk song, and the artist dedicated part of the exhibition to trees in watercolor.
She extended the arc to flower paintings that relate to the song "Frühlingstraum." Nature images picked up the song "Einsamkeit" and made this very solitude visible.
Further exhibitions
Heidrun Kaiser regularly exhibited with the Montagsmaler from Biesdorf: in the Kaulsdorf-Nord Library, in the Biesdorf Community Center, in HellMa in Marzahn, in the Kick-Off Window of Degewo, at the State Road Administration in Hoppegarten, and in schools. In 2019, the Marzahn-Hellersdorf District Office announced the group exhibition "Trees and More...".
In 2021, the Degewo High-Rise Gallery showcased another solo exhibition by the artist: "Impressions" by Heidrun Kaiser.
The Degewo High-Rise Gallery
The housing company Degewo founded the gallery to provide an intercultural platform for artists. For 17 years, former DEFA film editor Kristina Schrandt led the gallery and the neighborhood showcase at Märkische Allee 230A in Marzahn. She was also involved as a spokesperson in the neighborhood council.
In April 2020, artist and gallerist Diana Achtzig took over the management. You can read more about the gallery in the article Degewo Hochhaus Galerie introduces itself.