Josef Werner was born in Kraslice (Czech Republic) in 1945. He studied in Prague. In 1968 he emigrated to Germany. From 1970-75 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, under Professor K.F. Dahmen. He has since been working as a painter, print maker and sculptor. From 1979-86 Werner worked in his print shop and studio in New York. He had more than 150 one-man exhibitions in Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, and Switzerland. He has won numerous awards for his prints. Werner’s artwork can be found in many public and private collections.
Every artist has their own vision and it is difficult to encompass it in a single current, a style, a unique trademark. Nevertheless, if it were possible to attribute Josef Werner with a single artistic expression, we would likely lead it back to the great artists that inspired him like Marc Chagall and to the dreamlike paintings, for sure closest to the way he expresses himself, that still today boast most exhibitors Peter Doig, Dalì, Delvaux - although Werner also aspires, albeit less so, to the surrealism of Mirò, Ernst and Magritte.
In one word, we could define him a contemporary-dreamlike-surrealist. We could add that his activity as a sculptor, illustrator and engraver still has the upper hand amongst his works because the techniques he uses are so particularly specific
Werner's focus has always been on etchings. In his work one can find a symbiosis between reality and fantasy, which he achieves - seemingly effortlessly - with a high degree of technical perfection. Werner's graphics are full of poetry and inspiring ideas which through their narrative expression convey a humorous and often critical message. His works are never simply illustrated reality. Always in search of harmony and beauty behind the intellectual horizon, Werner's works create their own form of visual world which is only subject to the laws of art.
His works
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