Peter Herrmann
*1937 in Großschönau near Zittau
Nachtwanderung
Primarily influenced by Jürgen Böttcher’s (Strawalde) circle of artists in Dresden, the painter Peter Herrmann leaves the GDR in 1984 to later settle in Berlin. He paints simple objects, interiors, and landscapes, but he also repeatedly depicts scenes of the big city, the Wall, the Memorial Church, or the Eiermannturm. His painting style appears unpretentious, almost naïve, and childlike; it speaks of the artist’s great inner freedom. The impressions of his everyday life and his surroundings that he puts on paper and canvas are very personal. The large-format Nachtwanderung (night walk) was created in the year the Berlin Wall fell: In front of an extensive, backdrop-like cityscape moves a bizarre and ghostly parade under cover of darkness over toppled barriers through the streets. A figure in the foreground waves white peace flags, while only tattered remnants are left of the flags of the former victorious powers – a new chapter of history begins.
