Johnny Friedlaender
1912 - 1992
Johnny Friedlaender was a notable 20th-century German-French artist, renowned for his aquatint etchings. He exhibited in major countries and influenced many artists through his Paris gallery.
Born in Pless, Prussian Silesia, Friedlaender graduated from Breslau's high school in 1922 and studied under Otto Mueller at the Academy of Arts in Breslau. He moved to Dresden in 1930 for exhibitions and then to Berlin in 1933. After two years in a Nazi concentration camp, he settled in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, where he held his first solo etching show.
Read more...
In 1936, Friedlaender travelled across Europe, exhibiting in The Hague. Fleeing the Nazi regime, he moved to Paris in 1937 with his wife and held an exhibition. He survived internment in concentration camps from 1939 to 1943. Post-1944, he created the "Images du Malheur" series and illustrated books. He became a French citizen in 1952.
Friedlaender exhibited in Tokyo and Milan in 1951 and 1953, respectively. He won the Biennial Kakamura Prize in Tokyo in 1957 and taught at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. He held exhibitions worldwide and bought a home in Burgundy in 1968.
He taught many notable artists in his Paris atelier. Major retrospectives of his work were held in Paris, Bremen, and Bonn. Friedlaender died in Paris at 80.
Hide content again
