Sangerhausen has been home to the world’s largest rose garden since 1903. The names of the roses evoke distant lands, or seem to come straight out of a fairy tale from »One Thousand and One Nights«. Did this spark the artist’s love of travel? Schmidt showed a strong artistic inclination early on. She painted everything and, despite her young age, was accepted into a drawing class for adults. She studied art history in Leipzig, then—after facing political reprisals—finally studied painting at Burg Giebichenstein under Prof. Sitte. She quickly realized that she could not continue to develop her talents amid the political ambiguity. In 1984, Schmidt fled the country in haste.
She processed her arrival in West Berlin in the work »Die Freiheit« (Freedom), a nude self-portrait in which Schmidt appears to be leaping into the sky. It was created in 2025 for »Gegenwart und Reflexion«. With her limbs outstretched, ecstatically savoring the vastness and liberation: »Everything (almost everything) is possible if we approach it with passion and determination, and never give up our values in the process. (…) Freedom means something different to everyone. For me, it was and is important to free myself from anything that hinders my artistic and personal development. Once I had left, I downright lashed out with my paintbrush.« In 1985, she began studying painting at the University of the Arts in West Berlin and became a master student under Prof. Karl Oppermann in ’88. In an art supply shop, she meets Reinhard Stangl, and through him reconnects with Jürgen Böttcher/Strawalde, Peter Herrmann and Hans Scheib. From that point on, they held many joint exhibitions.
In 1989, Schmidt created a series of works that she thematically associated with the fall of the Berlin Wall. On November 10, 1989, she returned from the U.S.—the opening of the Wall came as a shock. Was she about to be caught up once again in the very thing she had fled from in the GDR? »Der Mauerbrecher« (The Wall Breaker), gouache on paper, powerfully shatters the gray gloom.
At the graduation exhibition at Goldsmiths College in London in 1998, she met ilka Leukefeld. The two quickly realized they had mutual friends in Berlin. In 2021, Schmidt participated in the exhibition »Keine Handbreit Wasser« at Richter’s barn in Huy-Neinstedt with two oversized portraits. The artist travels around the world on supranational journeys, teaching, but mostly documenting what she sees along the way: figures, landscapes, things in decay, and things in bloom. For the closing event of the VI. MKH-Biennale, Inge H. Schmidt will lead a two-day master class titled »Drawing and Painting—Everything in Motion«.
Inge H. Schmidt
Painter
| 1973–77 | Studied art history and German language and literature at the University of Leipzig |
| 1979–83 | Studied painting and graphic arts at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle |
| 1984 | Left the former GDR for West Berlin |
| 1985–88 | Studied painting at the Berlin University of the Arts |
| 1988 | Master’s student under Prof. Karl Oppermann |
| since 1988 | Freelance painter in Berlin |
| since 1994 | Lecturing and teaching positions at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, the University of Potsdam, and the Berlin University of the Arts |
| 2001 | Visiting professor at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences / color theory and drawing |
| since 2006 | Lecturer at the Berlin Technical Art School, among other positions |
| 2011 | Visiting Professor of Painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts, Baku, Azerbaijan |
Awards, Scholarships
| 2012 | Awarded an honorary doctorate from the State Academy of Fine Arts, Baku |
| 2004 | First Prize in the mural competition organized by the neighborhood management association for Wassertorplatz 65, Berlin-Kreuzberg, commissioned by the Federal Government and the European Union (execution of the design) |
| 2001 | Art Prize from the Berlin Artists’ Association (Verein Berlin Künstler), Beninghaus Prize |
| 1995 | Residency grant for painting from the Anderson Ranch Art Center, Colorado, USA |
| 1993 | Grant from the Ministry of Culture of the State of Brandenburg |
| 1988 | Winner of the nationwide painting competition »Großstadtimpressionen« organized by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs |
| First Prize in the mural competition organized by MEWA Wiesbaden and the Senate Department for Cultural Affairs, Berlin |
Works in Collections and Public Ownership
- Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan
- Federal Government of Germany, acquired for Dr. Helmut Kohl
- Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, acquired for Dr. Norbert Blüm
- Senator for Cultural Affairs, Berlin
- Senate Department for Construction and Housing
- Senate Department for Urban Development
- Dresdner Bank AG, Berlin
- Frankfurter Hypotheken Bank
- Berliner Sparkasse
- Public Insurance Group Berlin / Feuersozietät
- Aspen Institute Berlin
- Haus und Grund Berlin
Regular exhibitions in Germany and abroad since completing her studies
