Christian Jereczek (1935-2003) was born on November 7, 1935 in Berlin, Germany. His quest as an artist actually began when he became a stone-mason to try and learn all the possibilities that stone would offer for sculptures. His next step was to study at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts under such professors as Drake, HeinWerner, and Theo Balden. During this time Jereczek turned more and more toward oil paintings and began to hone this craft. Under the tutelage of the well-known Frankfurt artists Werner Seipel and Barum-Sekret he was able to develop his tremendous natural gift into wonderful paintings in only two years. He followed these studies up with various other study trips to Paris, Italy and Spain. Jereczek says that both painting and sculpture are equally important to his artistic expression. He says that he feels as though he needs both mediums to fully express all of his ideas; yet his paintings still make up the majority of his artistic work. Jereczek bases his architectural and landscape paintings on sketches that he has drawn during all of his travels through-out Europe. These sketches not only provide him with an enormous variety of subjects but also a memory book of his travels throughout Europe. Jereczek also does figural works, paintings or sculptures of dancers, portraits, and animal paintings which have contributed to his worldwide reputation. He lends his impressionistic style to many motifs such as: figurative pieces, landscapes, Italian and Spanish scenes, the French coast and harbors, florals, portraiture, ballrooms and street scenes. He resided in the suburbs of Munich untill his passing. Contact Griffith Art Gallery to view the collection of original paintings by this internationally renowned artist at 205-985-7969 or email griffithgallery@bellsouth.net for more information.