Fred SCHIMMEL

1928 – 2009

Paintings, mixed media, graphics, graphic studio

Fred SCHIMMEL in 1965

Brief C.V.

Born 4^th September, 1928 in Amsterdam, did architectural drafting in an architect’s office, then studied briefly at the Kunstnijverheidsschool (Gerrit Rietveld Academie), Amsterdam. In 1948, at age 20, Fred Schimmel emigrated  with his parents to South Africa.

Taught at Polly Street Art Centre, Johannesburg, 1949 to 1957, launched own graphic studio with experimental prints for Walter Battiss, 1952; founded the Graphic Club of South Africa, 1970; 1983 started experimenting with paper making.

Died 23^rd June, 2009 in Johannesburg, a few months after his wife Sybil passed away; survived by their daughter Gail Schimmel.

Memorial plaque on a bench overlooking the Sabie River

Selected Solo Shows

1964 Egon Guenther Gallery, Johannesburg

1965 Gallery 101, Johannesburg (8^th March) (opened by Dirk Meerkotter)

Fred Schimmel with one of his paintings shown at Gallery 101 in 1965

1969 Gallery 101, Rand Central, Johannesburg (18^th August) (Serigraphs) (opened by Ken Arber)

1972 Gallery 21, Hyde Park, Johannesburg (16^th September)

1983 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (“Tideline 1982-1983”) (16^th August) (opened by Gideon Uys) + (exhibition catalogue)

Exhibition Poster - Fred Schimmel at Gallery 21, Johannesburg - 1983

1984 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (27^th May)

Caroline Haenggi from Gallery 21 with Stephen Ditshilwane discussing a work by Fred Schimmel on the 1984 exhibition at the gallery (Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg 31st May, 1984)

1985 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (11^th June)

Exhibition Poster - Fred Schimmel at Gallery 21, Johannesburg - 1985

1987 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (1^st September)

One of Fred Schimmel's paintings on hand-made paper dated 1987 on the Gallery 21 exhibition (click on image for better view!)

1981 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (6^th August)

1991 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (August)

Exhibition Poster - Fred Schimmel at Gallery 21, Johannesburg - 1991

1993 Gallery 21, Johannesburg (2^nd February) (exhibition catalogue)

Exhibition Poster - Fred Schimmel at Gallery 21, Johannesburg - 1993

1994 Art Gallery AAD Leemans, Rotterdam (7th August) (opened by C.J. Bezuidenhout, SA Embassy, The Hague)

2002 Galerie Leonardis, Oberursel, Germany (12^th April)

Additional  exhibition list 1964 - 1991

Selected Group Shows

1964 William Bloom Gallery, Bay Shore L.I., USA - with controversial opener

Galerie Schimmel – Maarten Oosterbaan – Alphen a/d Rijn, Netherlands (various)

Selected Paintings and Other Images

"Impulse", 1984 - oil on paper on board - 69x99 cm

PELMAMA PERMANENT ART COLLECTION – donated to the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, 2006

Fred Schimmel, Johannesburg, in 1984

"Evolutionary Landscape", 1986 - mixed media on board 100x70 cm

PELMAMA PERMANENT ART COLLECTION – donated to the Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, 2009

"DIS", 1987 - mixed media on hand-made paper - 66x52 cm

PELMAMA PERMANENT ART COLLECTION – donated to the Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, 1993

Commission for murals

Mural for the Allied Building Society, Commissioner Street, Johannesburg - 1979 - oil on wood - 150x500 cm - 5 panels

Selected Publications

ARTLOOK 8 Johannesburg – July 1967, p. 4, ill

ARTLOOK 17 Johannesburg – April 1968, p. 23, ill

ARTLOOK 22 Johannesburg – September 1968, p. 17, ill

ARTLOOK 33 Johannesburg – August 1969, pp. 16/17, ill

ARRTLOOK 52 Johannesburg – March 1971, p. 22+25, ill

ARTLOOK 68 Johannesburg – July, 1972 (Graphic Club of SA), pp 18/19, ill

LANTERN, Pretoria – 1977 November, Vol. XXVII, No. 1, pp. 54/63, ill

“Art & Artists of South Africa” (Berman) (Balkema) (1983), ill. pp. 386/388, et al. – ISBN 0 86961 144 5

“The Dictionary of South African Painters and Sculptors” (Ogilvie) (Everard Read Publ.) (1988) pp. 581/2 – ISBN 0 620 12663 9

South African Journal of Art History Vol. II (1993) - "Fred Schimmel: Artist, an introduction to his work" (Dr Leoni Schmidt), ill.

Other Selected Publications

click on image for better view!

“Fred Schimmel  Retrospective” (van Zyl) (Smac Art Publishing) (2008) 151 pp - ISBN 978-0-620-56637-7

“De Fred Schimmel-ateljee” (Pretoria Art Museum), 1977 (exhibition cat.)

Fred SCHIMMEL's workregister on CD ROM

Fred's Personal Donation to the Oliewenhuis Art Museum

During 2005, Fred Schimmel donated personally 6 paintings to the Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, previously exhibited in Basel and Holland, at the suggestion of The Haenggi Foundation Inc., Basel

Fred's Personal Donation to the Pretoria Art Museum

In 2006 Fred Schimmel donated a portfolio of his own artworks to the Pretoria Art Museum (consisting of 144 silkscreens, 5 Woodcuts, 1 Linocut and 10 Mixed Media on paper) as well as a portfolio of early artworks (1950s to the 1980s) on paper (silkscreen, etching, lithography and woodcut) by various South African artists, especially by students and teachers of the Polly Street Art Centre.

Fred SCHIMMEL at home

View of the main house, Melville, Johannesburg

Fred Schimmel in his Melville studio – 8^th May, 2002

Obituary

The South African Art Times, 24^th June, 2009

Updated 20th September, 2016

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