Rainer Maria Latzke

Rainer Maria Latzke
Rainer Maria Latzke in front of his mural at the Vienna Town Hall
Born	December 28, 1950(1950-12-28) Frohngau, Germany
Nationality	German
Field	Painting, Muralist
Training	University of Mainz, Academy of Fine Arts, Duesseldorf
Movement	Surrealism, Renaissance art, Trompe-l'œil, Mural painting

Rainer Maria Latzke (born December 28, 1950) is a German artist working in the field of trompe l'oeil and mural painting. He is Adj. Professor at the Utah State University and Founder of the Institute of Frescography^[1] in Logan, Utah.

Life

Rainer Maria Latzke, wall and ceiling mural, entrance hall of Chateau Thal, Belgium

Klaus Meine, R. M. Latzke and Rudolf Schenker in front of the mural in the the Scorpions´ studio.

Eckart Witzigmann at the “Aubergine” in front of the murals by Rainer Maria Latzke

Ceiling painting by Rainer Maria Latzke, Chateau Thal, Belgium, 1986

"Villa Paradou", the former residence of Henri Chrétien, Nice, France

Rainer Maria Latzke was born in Germany in 1950. He was raised near Cologne along with his 8 siblings by his Father Alfons, an art teacher, and his Mother Lisa who was politically engaged. Latzke studied art, Philosophy, and Educational Science at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz Germany, and then continued Art studies from 1972 to 1976 at the Duesseldorf Academy of Fine Arts under the supervision of Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter.^[2]

In 1974 he was awarded a Terminal Degree in Pedagogy, Philosophy and in 1976 in Arts. After holding lectures on Art at Colleges in his home town, he traveled to Italy in 1980 where he studied Renaissance painting techniques and Fresco painting in Florence and Rome. In 1981 he married Doris Boecke, with whom he had three children, Rene Marcus (born 1981), Katharina Maria (born 1983) and Maurice Amadeus (born 1985). In 2008 his first grandchild, Tristan Francis, was born to Katharina who is married with a US citizen.

In 1982 his career as a Muralist started to advance: His collaboration with Harrods in London opened doors to prominent clients, like royal families in the Middle East. He was commissioned by major corporations like Mercedes Benz, for whom he designed the artwork for their 100 year celebration exhibition “Welt Mobil”, and prominent rock bands like the „The Scorpions", for whom he created the computer-controlled electronic mural „Night over Manhattan". In 1992 he was elected as outstanding person in the field of mural painting by Forbes Magazine in the article “Stars of tomorrow - cultural trendsetters with major input of the decade”.

In 1984 Latzke acquired the 1760 built „Chateau Thal“ in Kettenis, Belgium and restored the 38-room castle with several murals. He taught mural painting to numerous apprentices and students in the castle's studio, which led to a new Renaissance of wall painting in contemporary Interior Design.

After his move to Monte Carlo in 1995 he acquired the historic „Villa Paradou“ belonging to Henri Chretien, the Oscar winning inventor of the Cinemascope technique, in 1998. He restored the villa and added new modern murals to the already existing frescoes. In the serenity of the villa, surrounded by a large park with a gazebo built by Gustave Eiffel and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, he published the books “Traumwelten - Die Kunst der Dritten Dimension” and “Dreamworlds, the making of a room with illusionary painting”.

There he also continued his work in developing new techniques for the production and reproduction of murals, which he had started in Belgium in 1988, and for which he received a patent in 2000. He also engaged himself in music, composing songs and lyrics, and worked together with South France studio musicians and Phil Palmer, who also worked with Roger Daltrey, and the Dire Straits.

Rainer Maria Latzke is Adjunct Professor for Mural painting^[3] at Utah State University and Director of the Institute of Frescography in Logan, Utah.

Frescography

Screenshot of a CAM programm for the design of frescographies.

Latzke´s frescographies in the lobby of the Royal Clipper.

In the late '80s Rainer Maria Latzke began to develop new techniques for the production of murals, which led to the invention of the Frescography and the CAM Software. This patented technique consists of a computer programme, the Dreamworlds Design Studio^[4], which allows the user to assemble individual mural designs using a large selection of cut-out images. Prior to starting a design the dimensions of the wall are entered into the software to create a workspace reflecting the project wall. The designs are then transferred in the artist's studio onto a single canvas in wall size and then attached on site using a similar procedure as with wall paper. Frescographies take only a few hours to design on the computer, and are produced and delivered within a short period of time (2- 4 weeks). Retailers advertise that the product is as close possible to a perfect mural. It is currently being sold by over 300 franchisees in Europe. Frescographies can be seen in public buildings such as the Vienna Rathaus (Vienna Town Hall) or the world's largest sailboat, the Royal Clipper. There are currently around 300 Dealers in Europe distributing Latzke's Frescographies under the brand name Frescomaster.^[5]

J.W. Bergl Schloss Schoenbrunn Vienna, Austria, 1770, Archive of European wall and ceiling paintings

Institute of Frescography

In 2009 Rainer Maria Latzke founded the Institute of Frescography (IOF)^[1]. The IOF is an officially recognized (NFP) institution; its mission is the improvement of public knowledge and interest in the art of mural and fresco painting. It also researches on Art history, digital reproduction, printing processes and materials, and restoration techniques of mural art.

In cooperation with the German Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte the IOF houses a 40,000 images archive of European wall and mural paintings. The archive covers the period between the Gothic ages to the end of the 19th century. Another IOF archive, the 5,000 image archive “World of Ornaments” consists of 5,000 motifs based on of the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament from the 19th century chromo-lithographic tradition: Auguste Racinet's L“'Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II“ from 1875-1888 and “M. Dupont-Auberville's L'Ornement des tissus” from 1877.

The IOF also is participating in Museum and exhibition projects of mural and fresco art.

Works

• “Welt Mobil” Exhibition, Daimler Benz AG, 1984^[6]
• Chateau Thal, Kettenis, Belgium, 1986-2000.^[7]
• “Night over Manhattan”, The Scorpions´Studio, 1987^[8]
• Convent Andechs´„Andechser at the Dome“, Bavaria/Germany, 1994^[9]
• Çırağan Palace, Istanbul, Turkey, 1995^[10]
• Eckard Witzigmann's “Aubergine”, Munich, Germany, 1993^[11]
• Mario Gamba's “Acquarello”, Munich, Germany 1994^[12]
• Villa Paradou, Cote d´Azur, France, 1998 ^[13]
• The “Royal Clipper”, 2000^[14]
• Lanner Lehar Hall, Vienna Town Hall, Austria, 2005 ^[15]

Honors/Awards

• Master Student of the Academy of Fine Arts Düsseldorf, 1977 ^[16]
• Patent für ein großflächiges Wandbild, 1990 ^[17]
• Forbes Magazine: “Stars of tomorrow - cultural trendsetters with input of the decade” ,1992 ^[18]
• Patent for the Fresography technique, 2000 ^[19]

Publishings

• "Traumwelten - die Kunst der dritten Dimension" (publ. 1998) ^[20]
• "Dreamworlds - the Making of a Room with Illusionary Painting" (publ. 1999).^[21]

References

External links

• Artist's official website
• Official website with information of the frescographie procedure
• International collection of articles about the artist