SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Johannes Grützke

Documented citizenships : Germany

Johannes Grützke’s figurative painting borrows from cinema its low-angle and close-up framing, while his figures, often exaggerated with irony, play with the effects of representation. Drei Männer überrascht, a pastel on paper from 1973 measuring 70 × 100 cm, offers a concrete example of his work: on the reverse, the work bears a signed, dated and titled inscription, “Johannes Grützke ‘Drei Männer überrascht’ 20.2.1973”.

The German painter and illustrator Johannes Michael Wilhelm Grützke was born in Berlin in 1937 and died there in 2017. After training in glassmaking in Bonn, he began painting independently in 1955. From 1957 to 1964, he studied at the Berlin University of the Arts, first with Hans Orlowski and then with Peter Janssen. While still a student, he attended Oskar Kokoschka’s course in 1962 at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg. Having settled in Bad Godesberg in 1964, he presented his first solo exhibition there that same year, at Galerie Pro, directed by Johannes Wasmuth.

His commitment to figuration is also evident in collective initiatives: in 1973, he co-founded the Schule der neuen Prächtigkeit, or School of New Magnificence, with Matthias Koeppel and Manfred Bluth. In 1990, he was also among the founding members of the Künstlersonderbund in Deutschland, an association of German visual artists who had opted for contemporary figurative art. Institutional recognition of his work was reflected, among other things, in a retrospective organised in 1974 by the Neue Berliner Kunstverein. Presented at Charlottenburg Palace, it was subsequently hosted by Kunstverein Freiburg, the Nuremberg Kunsthalle and Mannheimer Kunstverein. His work also extended to theatre: from 1985 to 1988, he was Peter Zadek’s artistic adviser at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and designed various productions. From 1992 to 2002, he taught painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg.

This profile brings together identity references for Johannes Grützke and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

Documented auction references

6auction references

2auction houses

5documented results with prices

Lempertz · Schuler

References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.

Works recorded at auction

Photograph : Schuler · Enlarge image ↗

Schuler · Lot 3164

Pastel

Original catalogue wording

Drei Männer überrascht
pastel

Auction date : 2020-06-20

Published result : 4750 EUR

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : 3000

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Sources and references

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated : 2026-10-20

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Johannes Grützke

Documented auction references

Works recorded at auction

Guten Tag

Kerstin

Ohne Titel (Selbst)

Ohne Titel (Selbstportrait)

Zwei Personen mit Turnschuh und Geigenbogen

Three Men Surprised

Sources and references

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Master IW

Wilhelm Volz

Agnolo Gaddi