Johannes Wickert has been painting ever since he could hold a brush. He grew up in Southern Germany and went on to study painting at the Academies of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Florence. There is a strong focus on the fundamental themes of human existence throughout his largely figurative work. Wickert prefers to paint models in oil on canvas, observing both their external and internal manifestations of expression.

After completing his artistic education, Wickert delved into Physics and Psychology, embarking on a parallel career in teaching and research. He was most recently lecturing as a Professor of Psychology at the University of Cologne, which has continued to inspire his artistic endeavours.

Wickert devoted much of his attention to the Renaissance; a time when science, art and religion flourished, inspiring one another. His aim is not to copy the style of this epoch, but to translate its stimulating impact to our times. Crucial to this goal is the constant development of his compositional and technical skills. However, expression through art requires not only physical ability but also an engagement from the artist in a refined spiritual and intellectual debate with his themes and motifs.

Johannes Wickert searches for a language of art understandable and accessible for the people of today. He explores this through his use of colour (such as his famous blue) as well as old and new symbols, achieving a rare multifaceted complexity in his works. The minds of his subjects are open to read; their individuality rooted in their feet, our only physical connection to the earth. Attentive viewers, even those familiar with a particular piece, will realise there is always something more Wickert’s work can disclose.

Johannes Wickert’s works are not dated, in line with the ancient philosophical understanding of ‘Kairos‘ (Greek: the right or opportune moment) which disregards any chronological time measurements. His artworks do not feature a signature either; when a work is completed, he adds a stylised fish.
Wickert lives and works in Cologne and East Belgium.