Klaus Rinke (29 April 1939 – 20 January 2026) was a German artist.
Life and work Born in Wattenscheid, Rinke trained as a decorative artist and poster painter in Gelsenkirchen from 1954 to 1957. After studying painting from 1957 to 1960 at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, he maintained various studios in Paris and Reims from 1960 to 1964. In 1962, he had his first solo exhibition at the Le Portulan Gallery in Le Havre, France.
In 1965, he returned to Düsseldorf and gave up painting to devote himself to his first water works ("12 barrels of scooped Rhine water", 1969) and first "primary demonstrations". He began an active international exhibition career. From 1970 to 1976, he organised performances and joint exhibitions with Monika Baumgartl.Klaus Rinke on cccod.fr
From 1974 to 2004, Rinke was professor of sculpture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1980, he founded a 'centre for contemplation' in Haan and has had a studio and an apartment in Los Angeles since 1981. Rinke was chairman of the Malkasten artists' association from 1993 to 1998, and has been an honorary member since 1998. In 2007, Rinke moved from Haan near Düsseldorf, where he had lived and worked for almost 30 years, to Neufelden in Austria.Frank Becker: Klaus Rinke verlässt Haan und sagt: „Ich gehe ja gar nicht“, WZ from 14 December 2007, retrieved 2 August 2021
Rinke died after a serious illness on 20 January 2026, at the age of 86.Robert Fleck: "Klaus Rinke ist tot." eiskellerberg.tv . Retrieved 23 January 2026.
Exhibitions Source:
1969: Galerie Konrad Fischer, Düsseldorf 1972: Klaus Rinke. Der Versuch meine Arbeiten zu erklären, Kunsthalle Tübingen 1972: Biennale di Venezia, Venice 1972: documenta 5, Kassel 1973: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 1975: Museum Wiesbaden us [Bruno Russ], Einsame Kreise, Die Aktion Rinke/Rabinowitch, Wiesbadener Kurier, Donnerstag, 2. October 1975, 1976: Museum Wiesbadenus [Bruno Russ], Rinke und seine Schüler, 10. Aktion im Raum 27, Wiesbadener Kurier, Montag, 22 March 1976, us [Bruno Russ], Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie – und was aus ihr hervorgeht, Wiesbadener Kurier, Mittwoch, 24 March 1976, Düsseldorfer Happyning im Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbadener Kurier, Samstag, 27 March 1976 1977: Biennale di Venezia, Venice 1977: documenta 6, Kassel 1985: Instrumentarium, Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris 1992: Kunsthalle Düsseldorf 2006: Hagia Sophia Museum, Istanbul (Solo exhibition) 2011: Städel, FrankfurtNeu im Städel: Klaus Rinke "Die Wand", on staedelmuseum.de, retrieved 2 August 2021 2016: The memories belong to me, Thomas Brambilla Gallery, Bergamo, Italy 2017: Solo Show, Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland 2017: Derzeit, , Wuppertal 2017: Instrumentarium, The Nave, CCCOD Tours, France 2019: Die vierte Kraft, Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg
Awards 1972:
References
Further reading Götz Adriani (ed.): Klaus Rinke, Zeit Time, Raum Space, Körper Body, Handlungen Transformations. Catalogue publication Kunsthalle Tübingen, Cologne 1972 Bernd Fäthke, Klaus Rinke and David Rabinowitch, Ausst. Kat.: 9. Aktion im „Raum 27“, Museum Wiesbaden, 30 Sep – 4 October 1975 Bernd Fäthke, Rinkes Klasse im „Raum 27“, Ausst. Kat.: 10. Aktion im „Raum 27“, Letztes Mal hast du doch gesagt, daß du keine Kunst machst, Museum Wiesbaden, 21 – 28 March 1976 Ursula Eisenbach, Hans-Werner Schmidt (ed.): Klaus Rinke, retroaktiv (1954–1991), Richter Verlag, Düsseldorf 1992 Ursula Eisenbach (ed.): Klaus Rinke gemacht gedacht. Texte & Interviews, Grupello, Düsseldorf 2004 Hannelore Kersting (ed.): Kunst der Gegenwart. 1960 bis 2007. Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, 2007,
External links
Klaus Rinke on documenta Archiv Meisterwerke. Klaus Rinke "Zeitfeld", WDR-Sendung von Martina Müller, 15 January 2013