Artist Database

Ernst Geitlinger, a pioneer of geometric abstract painting in Germany, was born in Frankfurt in 1895. In the early 1910s, he moved to New York City, NY, USA with his family and studied at the Academy of Design. He worked as a stage painter and drawing teacher before returning to Germany in 1922, where he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Here he showed in exhibitions of the Deutscher Künstlerbund (German Arts Association), Neue Müchener Secession (Munich New Secession), and Juryfreien (‘without jury’). However, from 1933 on, his art was deemed ‘degenerate’ by the Nazi regime and he was banned from participating in exhibitions. His attempts to emigrate from Germany were unsuccessful and he retreated into an ‘inner emigration’ during this time.

Geitlinger re-emerged into the art world after the war. In 1946, he co-founded the Neue Gruppe (New Group) in Munich and represented Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1948. From 1951 to 1965, he was a Professor of Painting and Graphic Arts at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Academy of Visual Arts) in Munich. Following this, he founded a private painting school in Munich, which became a popular artistic hub. Geitlinger’s art ranges from traditional and representational to geometric and experimental abstraction.