![Paran G'Schrey to Katharina G'Schrey, [Berlin, 1956-1959], letter with colored drawings. Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Paran G'Schrey Archive, no. 34.](/fileadmin/_processed_/5/3/csm_G_Schrey_0034_001_01_c667c04d6b.jpg "Paran G'Schrey to Katharina G'Schrey, [Berlin, 1956-1959], letter with colored drawings. Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Paran G'Schrey Archive, no. 34.")
Paran G'Schrey. Letter drawings
Letter drawings by painter Paran G’Schrey (1927–1967). Paran G’Schrey, who was born in India, is considered to be one of the most important representatives of German Art Informel. He wrote the letters from 1956 to 1966 to fashion designer Katharina Schulze, who later became his wife, and to Horst Antes. They combine imaginative drawings, in which human forms, idealistic landscapes and bird motifs can be found, with poetic texts and personal messages.
Paran G’Schrey was born on 1 April 1927 in Calicut, India to an Indian father and German painter Luise Haustein (1905 to1991). In 1929, his mother brought him to Germany (Stuttgart) and married painter and graphic artist Ludwig G’Schrey (1907 to 2002), who adopted Paran. The family moved to Berlin in 1933, where Paran G‘Schrey began studying at the Master School for Applied Arts in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1943/44. His teachers included Anton Weismann, Hans Orlowski and Max Kaus. In 1944/45, he was drafted to the German navy and was then taken as a prisoner of war by British troops. After the Second World War, he studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart from 1946 to 1948 under Willi Baumeister. From 1948 to 1954, he continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin under Paul Strecker and Hans Kuhn, among others. After that, he was a master student of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and became one of the most important representatives of German Art Informel. In 1954, Galerie Spitta & Leutz in Berlin organised his first solo exhibition. In 1957, Paran G’Schrey married fashion designer and director of studies Katharina Schulze. He was a member of the Berliner Neue Gruppe and the Deutscher Künstlerbund (Association of German Artists). In 1961, Paran G’Schrey was awarded the Villa Romana Prize, which gave him the opportunity to make a study trip to Florence. There, the young painter also became more closely acquainted with Horst Antes, who was also in Florence as a Villa Romana fellow at the time. Paran G‘Schrey's paintings and graphics from this time at Villa Romana were shown by Galerie S 1963 in Berlin, together with sculptures and drawings by his friend Gerson Fehrenbach.
On 6 December 1967, Paran G’Schrey ended his life at his Berlin studio.
Archive and collection
The Paran G’Schrey Archive comprises sketch books and correspondence, especially with Katharina G’Schrey. Biographical documents, a few private and work photographs as well as exhibition materials complete the holdings.
The letter drawings to Katharina G’Schrey have been transcribed and published in: Katharina Ehrlicher (Hg.): Paran G’Schrey. Ein Herbstblatt vom Asphalt. Liebesbriefe. Berlin 2013.
History of the holdings
After the retrospective Paran G’Schrey (1927–1967). Ein Maler des deutschen Informel 2002 at Haus am Waldsee, which also featured an extensive presentation of the artist's letter drawings, Katharina Ehrlicher (formerly Katharina G’Schrey) handed over Paran G'Schrey's written bequest in the form of a donation. It has been in the possession of the Archives of the Akademie der Künste since 2003.