Martin Noël
(Berlin 1956 - 2010 Bonn)
1980 – 1987 Studied free graphics and painting at the FH Cologne, master student
Lived in Bonn on the Rhine
Preise und Stipendien (Auswahl)
2003 Arbeitsstipendium Stiftung Kunstfonds e.V., Pulheim, Germany
1998 Stipendium der Stiftung Kunst und Kultur des Landes NRW, NRW, Germany
1998 Atelierstipendium der LETTER Stiftung Köln für New York, Köln, Germany
1993 Kunstpreis der Stadt Bonn, Bonn, Germany
1993 "aa1. Preis Linolschnitt heute", Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany
1991 Kunstpreis Junger Westen, Recklinghausen, Germany
1990 Stipendium für das Deutsche Studienzentrum, Venedig, Italy
1987 Max-Ernst-Stipendium, Brühl, Germany
The work of Martin Noël is based on the thoughts of Otto Freundlich (1878-1943), who played a decisive role in the development of modern art. He considered the line to be the essential separating feature between things, which makes spatial perception possible in the first place.
Also significant for Noël are the thoughts of the English philosopher John Berger (1926-2017), in which he advocated the discovery of the unnoticed, the rather meaningless in the perception of nature.
As abstract as Martin Noël's pictures may seem, they all have their origin in the immediate, unnoticed reality addressed by Berger.
Be it the cracks in the floor of the World Trade Center in New York after the first bombing in 1993, or be it the cracks in the walls of the houses of Venice and Paris or the shadows of flowers that he discovered on his travels and put on paper as sketches.
Later, he cut these lines into the wood of a printing block and, completely in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer as a wood engraver, produced the series of his prints on paper or canvas. In doing so, he printed in a very special colourfulness, which was oriented towards the colour theory of Le Corbusier (1887- 1965). He always printed in small editions; the larger prints were usually unique.
After completing the printing work, he often declared the printing block itself to be an artistic object by covering it with paint or gold leaf, thus depriving it of its reusability.
In his entire artistic oeuvre, therein lies the achievement of Martin Noël, he found his own artistic position. It is dedicated to the excessive dialogue between line and surface. In doing so, he succeeds in overcoming the meaningful expressive realism that prevailed in German painting during his creative period. (Text: Dr. Wenzel Jacob - art historian)
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_kleine_Ottos_2006_48x38cm_Aquatintaradierung_auf_Buetten_Auflage_50_Exempl2-(51a16c06-cbf7-11ee-92be-e99e9841b2b8).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie "kleine Ottos"
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_kleine_Ottos_07_2006_48x38cm_Aquatintaradierung_auf_Buetten_Auflage_50_Exempl-(8c5b5714-cbfa-11ee-8f66-9965fa787ce3).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie "kleine Ottos"
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_kleine_Ottos_10_2006_48x38cm_Aquatintaradierung_auf_Buetten_Auflage_50_Exempl-(3cc630c4-cbfb-11ee-9c16-3f56b8a7ce86).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie "Kleine Ottos" #10
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_kleine_Ottos_11_2006_48x38cm_Aquatintaradierung_auf_Buetten_Auflage_50_Exempl-(7dcbc732-cbfb-11ee-a990-6bb002dd57ba).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie "kleine Ottos" #11
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_kleine_Ottos_12_2006_48x38cm_Aquatintaradierung_auf_Buetten_Auflage_50_Exempl-(c727e6ae-cbfb-11ee-b26b-dbacb9eda5c2).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie "kleine Ottos" #12
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/MartinNoel_Talisca_Negra_1996_Holzschnitt_2.4_170x125cm-(820ff344-c9e3-11eb-9154-f587a22ddbac).jpg)
Martin Noël
Talisca Negra
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_Venedig_58x78cm_VI-(10043).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie Venedig VI
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/Martin_Noel_Serie_Venedig_58x78cm_II-(10038).jpg)
Martin Noël
Serie Venedig II
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/MartinNoel_Unterwegs_Aquatintaradierung_2009_66x50cm_50_Exemplare_3-(fab372c2-2e9a-11ed-a9b1-c739b6ac4440).jpg)
Martin Noël
Unterwegs Aquatintaradierung
![](/images/wwwartworkThumb/MartinNoel_Unterwegs_Aquatintaradierung_2009_66x50cm_50_Exemplare-(e297f62c-2e9a-11ed-9007-15b414e5a728).jpg)