Charlotte Posenenske facts for kids

Charlotte Posenenske (born 1930, died 1985) was a German artist. She is known for her simple, modern sculptures. She also made paintings and drawings. Charlotte liked to create art that looked like things made in factories. She often used simple shapes and repeated them.

Early Life and Art Studies

Charlotte Posenenske was born in Wiesbaden, Germany. Before she became a famous artist, she worked as a designer for theater sets and costumes. She studied painting with a teacher named Willi Baumeister in the early 1950s. Charlotte started making her own art in 1956.

Her Unique Art Career

Charlotte Posenenske used many different art materials. Her art became more abstract (less realistic) as the 1960s went on. She started with paintings made with a palette knife or spray gun. Later, in 1967 and 1968, she made sculptures that looked like they came from a factory. These sculptures were made from aluminum, steel, or cardboard.

Art for Everyone

Charlotte's sculptures were made of parts that could be put together in many ways. You could also make as many of them as you wanted. Other artists often made a limited number of copies of their art. But Charlotte made "series," meaning there was no limit to how many could be made.

She believed art should be for everyone. Charlotte did not like the idea of art being sold for very high prices. She sold her artworks for only the cost of the materials. If a new version of her work is made today, it looks exactly like the original. Only a special paper (a certificate) shows it's an official piece.

Square Tube Series

One of Charlotte's famous works is called Vierkantrohre Serie (Square Tube Series). These sculptures looked like industrial steel tubes, similar to air conditioning ducts. Even though they looked like ready-made objects, Charlotte planned how they would be produced.

Charlotte also wanted people to interact with her art. She invited artists and museum curators to move and rearrange her sculptures. This made the audience part of the artwork itself.

Why She Stopped Making Art

In 1968, Charlotte Posenenske wrote about her art. She said she made series because she didn't want to make special pieces for only a few people. She wanted her art to be repeatable and simple. She even said her art was "less and less recognisable as 'works of art.'" She believed her objects should only be seen as what they are, not as something else.

Later in 1968, Charlotte stopped being an artist. She felt that art could not truly change society or help with social problems. She then became a sociologist. She studied how people worked in factories, especially on assembly lines. She continued this work until she passed away in 1985. During this time, she did not visit art shows or display her own art.

Where to See Her Art

Many museums around the world have Charlotte Posenenske's artworks. Here are some examples:

• Untitled, an oil painting from 1960, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
• Sprayed Picture, a gouache painting from 1964-5, at the Tate in London.
• Square Tubes [Series D], made of galvanized steel in 1967, also at the Tate.
• The Dia Art Foundation in New York has 155 of her works.

Past Exhibitions

Charlotte Posenenske's art has been shown in many solo exhibitions (shows just for her work) and group exhibitions (shows with other artists).

Solo Exhibitions

• 2019: Charlotte Posenenske: Lexicon of Infinite Movement, Kröller-Müller Museum, the Netherlands
• 2019: Charlotte Posenenske: Work in Progress, Dia Beacon, United States
• 2012: Dasselbe anders, K21, Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2011: Charlotte Posenenske, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, United Kingdom
• 2010: Charlotte Posenenske, Artists Space, New York, US
• 1968: Art & Project, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1967: Konrad Fischer Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany

Group Exhibitions

• 2012: Art House Wiesbaden: the same different / always the same: Posenenske and Peter Roehr
• 2011: Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, exhibition: MMK 1991–2011. 20 years presence
• 2007: Documenta 12, Kassel

See also

In Spanish: Charlotte Posenenske para niños