Selbst ist der Mann!
Erich Bödeker und Josef Wittlich
Ulf Sölter
Self-Made Artists
Painter Josef Wittlich (1903–1982) and sculptor Erich Bödeker (1904–1971) never attended art schools or academies. Both men were self-taught artists who earned their living by doing all kinds of heavy physical work. Their experimental and unconventional methods challenged existing norms, both in terms of subject matter and in the way they used, and worked with, their materials. Free from constraints of content, they arrived at new artistic expressions of their own.
The quality of naïve artists as well as their significance and influence on others is undisputed. Erich Bödeker and Josef Wittlich created unique works, which are still fascinating even decades after they were made.
