Summary
From October 1998 to the end of 1999, drawings of Austrian artist Fritz Panzer appeared in the daily newspaper “Berliner Zeitung” under the title “Stadtblicke” [City Views] in quite irregular intervals. He had made the drawings in many different locations all over the capital. The then editor-in-chief, Michael Maier, intended to strengthen the element of drawing in the “Berliner Zeitung”, on the model of the Spanish daily “El País” Maier was familiar with Fritz Panzer’s large-format wire sculptures depicting concrete spatial situations and invited him to Berlin to develop an architecture-related series of drawings for his newspaper.
Through the editor’s request to deliver lively scenes also showing people instead of dead architecture, Panzer was confronted with a totally new artistic challenge, which he accepted in a way that was also productive for the further development of his sculptural work.
Thanks to their unconventional obstinacy and sculptural power, the drawings he created distinguish themselves in a most agreeable way from the usual monotony of photographic reporting in the daily press.
Eventually, Michael Maier’s and Fritz Panzer’s experiment failed because of the half-hearted editorial implementation. There was no willingness to support the new format of a city report series in drawing with the required regularity of appearance and placement, as well as a properly thought-out interplay of drawing and text commentary.
Fritz Panzer – “Stadtblicke”
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