The artist Hans Ulrich-Buchwald grew up in Germany under the Nazi regime. Fearful to accept and declare his homosexuality, Buchwald led a double life typical of the times, and remained closeted until the age of 72. His subliminally themed homoerotic linoleum prints reflect his personal drama of trying to keep a balance between his marriage and family, and his inherent sexuality.
Jean Leigh, owner of The Leigh Gallery, at 3306 N. Halsted in Lakeview, presents the first Chicago exhibition of the linoleum prints of Buchwald. The Leigh Gallery's collection includes approximately 20-30 framed/limited edition lino prints, mostly male nudes, and ranging in size from 32'x32' to 4'x6', with prices starting at $400. Books and pamphlets of his works will also be available for sale.
Buchwald, 79, who still works diligently at his art, and resides in Germany, will attend the Gallery's reception August 19, 5-9 p.m.
Buchwald was born in 1925 in Breslau, Germany. Art played an important role in Buchwald's family: his uncle was an artist, his grandfather was a photographer, and Buchwald's father befriended many modern German artists of the time, including Otto Muller, infamous for being thrown out of the Munich Academy ( for his artwork, lithographs of naked gypsies ) by Franz von Stuck, one of the professors at the Academy, and a dominant traditional painter of the time. Buchwald studied woodblock printing at the Breslau School of Handicrafts. While studying graphic arts at the State Museum in Hanover, he was provided with an inexhaustible supply of oversized linoleum when the Museum's floor had to be replaced. As a result, over the next few years he mastered the technique of creating huge linoleum cuts, to be used in creating lino prints.
In 1940, at the age of 15, with his artistic education in progress, Buchwald was drafted into the German Army, and in 1945 became a prisoner of war. During the time of his incarceration, Buchwald had his first sexual experience with a man. Because Buchwald's uncle, an art historian for the Breslau Museum of Art History and Antiques, took his own life after being blackmailed by a male lover, Buchwald himself made the decision to remain closeted.
Upon returning to civilian life, Buchwald's artwork is seen to be heavily influenced by the previously banned works of the modern painters: Oskar Kokoschka, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Macke; Buchwald seemed to relate to their risqué new styles, and abstract and illusionary ideas.
Still denying his homosexuality, Buchwald married artist Hella Feyerabend in 1955, a happy and stimulating union which produced three daughters. However, he began having clandestine encounters with men; the secret nature of these experiences found their voice in his art. It wasn't until his wife's death in 1993 that Buchwald announced his homosexuality.
Runs Aug. 19-Sept. 18, reception Aug. 19 with artist 5-9 p.m., 3306 N. Halsted, Chicago, ( 773 ) 472-1865, www.theleighgallery.com .
