Kurt Claußen-Finks | Deich und Deichvorland | 1962 | Aquarell und Filzstift auf Papier

Kurt Claußen-Finks (1913-1985) would have turned 100 on 14 June this year. Born in Bremen, he remained closely associated with the city, where he lived and worked almost all his life, interrupted by 10 years of war and imprisonment. Claußen-Finks studied art and graphics at the Kunsthochschule (Art College) in Bremen, later he undertook journeys throughout Europe, but the Hanseatic city was always the center of his life and work.

The versatile artist was fascinated by the unique light moods of the Northern German coastal landscape. The maritime flair of the harbors and dykes and the reduced beauty of the lowlands with their high skies inspired him to his pictures. In addition to oil paintings and drawings, he created countless watercolors, in which he found his visual language – also due to the contrast with distinctive felt pen lines. Also as a graphic designer, Kurt Claußen-Finks has made a name for himself in Bremen. He has illustrated books, designed fonts, memorial plaques, and coats of arms, and worked equally masterfully with woodcut, linocut, and copperplate engraving.