Kurt Hinrichsen

1901-1963

Kurt Hinrichsen was born on October 26, 1901 in Basel or St. Gall to a German father. He was a painter, draughtsman, and engraver of figure compositions, figures, nudes, portraits, and landscapes.

Hinrichsen’s family settled in Basel in 1906. He settled permanently in Paris in 1924-1925, at the time when he decided to devote himself entirely to painting, while studying with Jules Adler.

During a trip to Belgium in 1934, studying the works of Rubens in greater depth influenced his painting. In 1937, a bursary from the Basel museum enabled him to travel to Italy and Antwerp. From 1945, he often spent the summer in Sables-d’Olonne, which encouraged him to introduce new subjects into his work. Similarly, in 1946, he visited Savoy and painted landscapes there.

Hinrichsen exhibited regularly at the Salon des Indépendants from 1929 and sometimes at the Salon d’Automne. He also exhibited from 1950 onwards at the Salon Comparaisons in 1955 and 1957. He has about 15 solo exhibitions, mainly in Basel and Paris, including one at the Kunsthalle in Basel in 1946 and also in le Havre and the Hague.

Hinrichsen’s painting is very personal, characterized by drawing that is nervous, baroque, full of curls, curves and counter-curves, and he uses the pure colors of the Fauves, often slightly acid, placed on the canvas in scattered dots. He has painted many subjects, landscapes, and various regions, mainly in France and Italy, portraits, a large number of female nudes, and above all, compositions containing figures in motion.