Carl-W. Röhrig
Painter and illustrator
Birth
Born on November 12, 1953 in Munich Schwabing
The biography
1953
1971 - 1973
Education
Education at the Academy for the Graphic Arts.
Röhrig painting skills are self-taught. The applied art of illustration gave him the tools for his free painting and to develop a visual language that many can understand (read). Röhrig never considered it his task to paint experimentally or even scientifically.
Röhrig has always seen it as his destination to inspire the viewer to associations and considerations in his own world, to inspire him!1977 - 1985
Scientific illustrations
Röhrig made a name in the early days of his work as a scientific illustrator with the book Ars Bacteriologica, that was created in cooperation with Bayer AG. In 1981 he received an award from the Interior Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany for excellent scientific illustrations. Other awards and honors in the United States followed, including from the Museum of Scientific Illustration in New York. Röhrig has been a member of the National Geographic Society based in Washington D.C. since 1989.
Award received for excellent scientific illustrations by the Interior Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany
1980
Moved from Munich to Hamburg
1983
PUBLICIST ILLUSTRATIONS for Stern, Spiegel, GEO
He was involved in a medical-scientific film for GEO magazine titled War in the Body, directed by Volker Arzt. The film was broadcast on the First German Television (ARD). This was followed by a study tour of several months in the USA and further work on medical illustrations for the book The Incredible Machine for the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. The work, previously written in English, was published in German as GEO magazine Der Mensch. He created hundreds of other publications of artistic illustrations and paintings for various clients, as well as cover pictures for the magazines GEO, Der Spiegel and Der Stern.
1986
Brown series
With this series of pictures, Röhrig dealt for the first time with the subject of mind and the mental captivity of humans. This series of pictures was named so because the artwork was almost entirely created in shades of brown.
A legendary exhibition “Imagine….” On the Berlin Wall showed works from this series of pictures with breakthroughs that somewhat anticipated the events of 1989.
1986
Movie by the NDR of the first German television
Evolution as a work of art or a fantastic journey through time
This movie shows the artist’s versatile work as an illustrator for Der Stern, Der Spiegel and GEO, as a scientific illustrator and as a successful freelance painter with his imaginative, surrealistic paintings.1987
Television
First film portait about the painter on German television NDR. A fantastic journey through time
1989
PHOTOREALISTIC PAINTINGS OF ENDANGERED ANIMALS
Inspired by the illustrations he made for a book called:
“The Garden of Eden must not die” Röhrig created many portrait paintings of endangered animals in the years that followed.He called this series “Ancestral Gallery of Endangered Animals”.
This work was presented for the first time together with animal researcher and filmmaker Heinz Sielmann in Bonn. The German Parliamentary Society honored his art with an exhibition in its own premises. The animal portrait “Snow Leopard” from 1992 was awarded as the best illustration by Ringier Verlag. Countless publications of this series of pictures made many of the pictures very popular.
Under the patronage of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), many exhibitions followed presenting these works.
1990
Book release
The book CARL-W-RÖHRIG was published.
1991
Röhrig Tarot Cards
Within two years, the artist created the complete 78-piece work.
It became a legend in the years that followed. The newly developed visual language used in the Röhrig Tarot sparked great international enthusiasm in the tarot scene.
The publisher “Blue Star Communications” in the USA and Aquamarin Verlag in Europe ensured worldwide distribution. The RÖHRIG TAROT became a classic!1996
Museum "Kunst und Handel" in Hamburg
The Museum “Kunst und Handel” in Hamburg acquires 5 paintings.
1996
Museum für Wald und Umwelt in Ebersberg
The “Museum für Wald und Umwelt” in Ebersberg 7 Bavaria acquires 5 illustrations by the artist
1996
His free work
From then on Röhrig devoted himself almost exclusively to his free painting.
A this point, 2000 works had already been created.
In the years that followed, the artist created another 1,000 paintings.
Almost all of these works found owners from Iceland to New Zealand and from the USA to Germany all over the world!1997
Awarded by the Art Directors Club
Awarded by the Art Directors Club in Germany for the cover picture of the magazine Spiegel “World of Agents”.
Title page of magazine Spiegel Spezial 19971999
Own visual language
The challenge he faced while working on cover pictures for magazines in german made the artist create his own visual language in the mid-1980s. He summarized this most extensive phase of his painting under the term Fantastic Naturalism. His interest in topics related to the destruction of nature and the environment led to this series and was documented in a book with the corresponding title. Ultimately, it was Carl-W. Röhrigs aim in his paintings to inspire people to preserve the beautiful nature and earth.
2000
The future never ends
Röhrig’s dream of realizing a large book about his work from 1971-1999 was put into practice. This illustrated book represents a total work of art and also bears the subtitle “Fantastic Naturalism”!
The chapters were almost completely commented on by the artist himself. This special art book with its 900 illustrations (300 full-page format) is unique in its timelessness and inspires young and old again and again.2002
White series
This work was created around the year 2002. These acrylic paintings on white cardboard, named hence the designation as “white series”
The theme of this series of pictures, similar to the “Brown Series” from 1986, is about the problems of the mind and its lack of freedom.2004
Viel Glück und Erfolg
The book “Viel Glück und Erfolg” with works by the artist and with quotes from famous personalities is published .. Shortly after it was out of print!
2006
Mural paintings
Röhrig’s work is highly valued for its meticulous and detailed manner of painting.
In order to get a little “bigger”, the master finally decided to take a larger brush in his hand to leave the “frame” of a painting. So it did not take long for his first murals to develop. A wall painting project made of sixteen motifs was created in Hamburg in a well-attended restaurant called “La Prego” in the city center. Painting in public space is what Röhrig always is interested in. In 2011 he completed his extensive work in the restaurant “Le Cedre” in Zurich. He transformed the bare walls into oriental sandstone architecture. In fact, the visitor feels transported into another world! During this time, many more paintings were created.
Turning a wall to a window into another world, makes me happy ”… Röhrig once mentioned.2008
Visions come true
The book “Visionen werden wahr” gets published with works by the painter and quotations from famous people. It is a book that tells of the fact, all reality begins with fantasies and visions. Quite a thoughtful book.
2008
Moving to Switzerland
Carl-W. Röhrig had decided to go to Switzerland at some point in his youth. The time was ready in 2007, after a long stay and the warm invitations of many Swiss friends, this wish could came true.
Since then, the artist lives and workes near Zurich in the canton of Aargau in an area that is not unlike his original Upper Bavarian homeland.2010
Fantastic worlds
A book on Tarot by Roe & Kirsten Buchholzer is published based on the Röhrig Tarot and its 78 motifs.
2011
Book release
“Seelenfutter” by Caroline Frizzi containing nineteen paintings by Carl-W. Roehrig is published. One of the pictures is “Terra chielo”
2014
Landscape painting - landscape fantasies
Röhrig, as a painter of fantastic naturalism, has always been connected to landscape painting. Due to the groing influence of digitalization, Röhrig decided to revive the tradition of landscape painting, with the intention of delighting people in the also groing larger cities of the future with their landscape fantasies. “Floating trees” that become landscapes on their surface are the basic motif of these pictures.
2014
The DVD "The narrative picture" is released in 2014.
Publisher: Swiss Internet TV, Medioline. TV
The DVD shows the complete creation of a painting while the artist talks about his work and experiences during his long career.2017
MERCI / Thank you
The book “MERCI / Thank you” with a hundred works and quotes from famous personalities is published.
2022
Swiss citizenship
On September 20, 2022, Carl-W. Röhrig naturalized in Switzerland.
Address
Alte Hägglingerstrasse 14
5605 Dottikon
Schweiz
Organisation und Planning:
Mme Rita Fürer
Phone: +41 76 577 74 80
Email: rita.fuerer@carl-w-roehrig.ch
Highlights
Carl-W. Röhrig auf Wikipedia
