SANTA MARTA.- From drawing to metaphor, an exhibition of twenty-six drawings by the late Hungarian artist Karl Stengel (1925-2017), will be on view at the Museo Bolivariano de Arte Contemporáneo in Santa Marta, Colombia from November 29, 2018 to February 17, 2019. Zarita Abelló de Bonilla, Director of the Museum, expressed her desire to host this exhibition after visiting the Stengel Collection at the Palazzo Rosselli del Turco in Florence. This is the first exhibition of Stengel’s work in Colombia.

Produced over a span of forty years, between 1977 and 2016, the works in this exhibition demonstrate Stengel’s sustained interest in figuration, which prevails over abstract expressionism. Made in various mediums, including pen, pencil, watercolour, and oil pastel, there are even several examples here of Stengel drawing on the pages of books, tearing leaves from encyclopedias, atlases, and even his own catalogues. In these works, Stengel explored passion and the human condition, setting out imaginary dialogues in his scenes set in places like taverns or brothels. His subjects were drawn from his own life experiences, his travels, and his innate curiosity. They were also inspired by his passion for literature and music, including the work of authors such as Bukowski, Blaise Cendrars, Beckett, Jorge Borges, Yvan Goll, Tabucchi, and Giuseppe Ungaretti, and also from composers and musicians such as Rachmaninov, Stravinskij, Liszt, and Pollini.

Born in 1925 in Neusatz, territory of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, Stengel’s life was marked by tragic events, including time spent as a prisoner of war in a Russian camp in Siberia. His skill as a draughtsman was recognized by an officer who, after seeing him drawing with a piece of charcoal on a cement bag, gave him paper and pencil to make portraits of the officer and his colleagues. Stengel commenced formal art training at the Akademie der Schönen Künste after fleeing to Germany in 1956, where he lived for most of the rest of his life, while travelling extensively. Stengel held exhibitions around the world, including in the United States, Norway, Romania, Poland, France, Spain and Mexico.

When asked about his work, Stengel remarked “people have been used to see something recognizable or understandable in a painting…..It should be like music: if something disturbs you, then you don’t have to approve of it or like it, if you feel good listening to it then you approve of it, but it is personal, for you.”

The artworks in From drawing to metaphor have been kindly loaned by Camilla Stengel and The Stengel Collection.