Fritz Krampe – South African Artist, Paintings 1913 - 1966

Fritz Krampe was born in Berlin 1913 - 1966

Art Education
- 1931 – 1933 : Berlin Academy of Arts under Professor Spiegel.
- 1933 : Munic Academy under Professor Hess.
- 1935 – 1939 : Master studies at Prussian Academy of Art, Berlin.

Short Artist Biography
- Fritz Krampe was interested in wild-life from his boyhood; wanderlust apparent even in his youth.
- 1932 : Fritz Krampe spent his vacation working on a cargo boat bound for Siberia; studies of whales and dolphins used in subsequent illustrations of “Moby Dick”; also produced lithographs illustrating “ Peer Gynt”.
- 1933 : Fritz Krampe worked in Munic for a year.
- 1934 : military service in Berlin, followed by return to studies.
- 1939 : World War 2 – military service in France and Poland; volunteered for Afrika Korps.
- 1941 : POW in Western Desert; taken to camp in Victoria, Australia; remained in Australia after the war.
- 1947 : Fritz Krampe returned to Berlin; commissions for book-illustrations on animal life; still restless.
- 1950 : immigrated to South Africa as a house-painter; stayed briefly in Cape Town, then settled in Windhoek, SWA; mural commissions. In his element with such easy access to nature in the raw; wrote articles on wild-life for SWA German papers. However, continued wanderlust took him traveling and painting in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Europe.
- 1958 – 1961 : marriage to Herta Dickman ended in divorce three years later.
- 1966 : yet another safari-trip, through Middle East and Pakistan to Bombay. Near the mouth of the Ootaca River was gored to death by an elephant, which was found guarding his body.

Art Exhibitions
- 1951 : first South African one-man exhibition, Cape Town.
- 1952 : Van Riebeeck Tercent Exhibition, Cape Town.
- 1956 : First Quad of South African Art.
- 1958 – 1959 : South African Exhibition touring Germany, Holland, Belgium.
- 1960 : Second Quad of South African Art.
- 1962 : “Art in South West Africa: - South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
- 1966 : Republic Festavale Exhibition, Pretoria.
- 1967 and 1968 : Commemorative Exhibition, South African National Gallery; Johannesburg Art Gallery.
- 1979 : “South African Printmakers”, South African National Gallery, Cape Town

Public Art collections
Johannesburg Art Gallery; William Humphreys Gallery, Kimberley; Hester Rupert Museum, GR; Rembrandt Art Foundation; South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Pretoria Art Museum; Association of Arts, Windhoek.

Source
Berman, E. 1994. Art & Artists of South Africa . Southern Book Publishers.

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