After graduating from Klettgau Gymnasium in Tiengen, he received a scholarship from Norway and began his artistic studies at the Ringsaker Folkehögsskole. While on a scholarship in Norway, he decided to perform civilian service at the Reichenau State Psychiatric Hospital instead of completing his military service. Following this, he studied art education for three semesters at the Freiburg University of Education, then transferred to the independent art school in Stuttgart. After passing the entrance exam at the Karlsruhe Art Academy, he was given the opportunity to continue his artistic studies in Gerd van Dülmen’s painting class.
He has been an ophthalmologist in Rheinfelden since 1996. All of the approximately 50 works on display in an exhibition in 2023 – except for one – were created in the past two years: “Thanks to the coronavirus, I had more time for the first time, not just at night or on weekends.” In conversation with Salfner, he explains how his paintings are created – without a fixed plan, from the subconscious: “I just start.” Then he often paints over them, changes them. Viewers frequently discover traces of overpainted work. “I always stick to the representational: here a head, a face, a figure. I’m not that interested in landscapes.” When asked whether his paintings are melancholic, he affirms: “There is always melancholy in art.”
