The Quiet Presence of a Munich Painter

Manfred Hollmann was born in 1929 in Rudník, Czech Republic. He moved to Munich in 1950, a city that would become the center of his life and his practice. His early years were spent in the studios of the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Josef Oberberger from 1951 to 1957. This period of formal training provided the foundation for a career that would eventually bridge the gap between the canvas and the architecture of the city itself.

His work moved between the freedom of pure painting and the structured demands of architectural design. He did not limit himself to a single medium, finding ways to translate his vision into the very bones of public spaces. In Munich, his hand can be found in the design of the Fürstenried West U-Bahn station, a subtle integration of art into the daily movement of the city. He spent much of his life navigating the space between the private studio and the public sphere.

A Life of Form and Light

The development of his visual language was shaped by specific periods of study and the physical properties of light. In the late 1950s, he spent time in Paris, working with André Lhote. This exposure to different ways of seeing helped define his approach to both graphic design and painting. His technical skill was recognized early on, including a prize from the City of Munich for painting in 1961.

His output during his middle years included a significant focus on stained glass. He worked on windows for several churches across Bavaria, including locations in Kitzingen, Donauwörth, Woffenbach, and Welkers. These works required a different kind of discipline, managing how light passes through color to define a space.

His professional life was marked by several key roles and recognitions:

• Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, and in Paris.
• Designed stained glass windows for various Bavarian churches between 1954 and 1968.
• Served as a Professor of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, from 1973 to 1995.
• Received the Seerosenpreis in 2009.

The Academic and the Artist

For over two decades, Hollmann shaped the next generation of painters through his professorship in Munich. He taught at the Academy of Fine Arts until 1995, a role that required him to balance his own creative output with the responsibilities of a university teacher. This period of teaching coincided with a long, steady engagement with the formal qualities of his medium.

His paintings are held in important collections, such as Die Neue Sammlung in Munich and the Bavarian State Painting Collections. His work remains a part of the visual history of Munich, existing in both the quiet corners of galleries and the functional spaces of the city's transit system. He died in Munich in 2012, leaving behind a body of work that reflects a life spent observing the intersection of light, color, and structure.