Egino Weinert - Goldsmith, Sculptor, Painter
- Posted on
Learn about the world famous sacred artist Egino Weinert whose solid bronze and enamel pieces can be found in the Gift Shop and Scholar Shop.
In more than 70 years of creative work, hanging crosses, tabernacles, baptismal fonts, sculptures, glass windows, chalices, enamel pictures, crosses and over 1,200 patron saints as well as extraordinary gold and silver jewelery and much more were created. The works of Egino G. Weinert can be found on all continents of the world. Important works, including complete church furnishings, can be seen in the USA, Brazil, the Scandinavian countries, England, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Israel, Egypt, Japan, China and South Korea.
The artist died in 2012 at the age of 92.
Egino Günther Weinert was born on March 3, 1920 in Berlin. His childhood is soon marked by a deep faith in God and a strong interest towards art; this passion pushed him to visit the museums in Berlin and to try and learn painting and sculpture at a very early age. He develops very soon the conviction to serve Christ by translating his Gospel into his art. His art wants to distance himself from the modern styles and to adopt stylized figures and a style later known as naïf.
Naïf art approaches artistic contexts in a spontaneous way, with total aesthetic and expressive freedom, and its followers define it today as "the art that is free of conventions."
In 1934, when he was just 14 years old, Egino enters the Benedictine monastery of Münzerschwarzach as a student and after studying agriculture and commerce, he begins to work as a restorer and church painter by Brother Lukas in 1936. In 1937, he studies sculpture by professor Valentin Kraus and 1941 it’s the turn of goldsmith and silversmith arts.
Egino was arrested for refusing to perform the Nazi salute and was later forced to enlist in the Navy during World War II. He did not lose interest in art during his military service, but rather, took advantage of his free time to work with other artists and further develop his skills. During the rest and recuperation leaves between 1942-1943, he manages to continue his passion for art, mainly painting in Düsseldorf and later goldsmith art in Bremen. In 1944, he graduated as master. At the end of the war, after long researches, he managed to find his mother who had moved in a quarter of Berlin under the control of the Russian troops.
In October 1945, Egino Weinert suffers a new terrible loss. During a black out, a Russian soldier gives his mother a fuse to turn the light on. But the fuse was filled with explosive: it was Egino’s mother who unknowingly gave him the bomb that mutilated his right hand. After a long and difficult medical care in an American hospital, Egino is finally discharged and can try to be admitted in the Benedictine monastery of Münsterschwarzach, who has survived the war. Nevertheless, he is admitted solely as a goldsmith.
His loss of the right hand means that he couldn’t produce any artistic works; nevertheless, Egino doesn’t surrender and decides to exercise his left hand in the production of enamel works with Biblical and religious themes. In 1947, he produces his first one-handed artistic work: the Peace Table. He also attends great artists and produces some bronze sculptures on his own.
Egino wants to take his vows in the Benedictine Order, but in 1949 the chapter of monks assembled and decided against his suitability because of his handicap and his reduced autonomy. The same refusal was confirmed by the Franciscans. The 29-years old artist was thus forced to return to live in the outer world after a whole monastery-oriented life.
He finds new hope and begins to expose his works for sell in Bonn in the library of Anneliese Leopold, who will become his wife in 1951. Egino founds his little private workshop and in 1952 a second workshop in Lucerne: he can finally commit to his mission of lay artist. In this period, he fathers three sons and one daughter.
In 1956, he builds and opens both a new home and a studio in Cologne and later in Barcelona. By 1963, he had his first meeting with Pope Paul VI and began producing sacred art for religious instititutions throughout Europe, including several commissions by Pope Paul VI and Pope St. John Paul II.
Egino Weinert died on September 4, 2012 at the age of 92.
Throughout his life, Egino faced moments of loss and rejection. His art, in the end, has brought believers together in a spirit of sacred inclusiveness. Weinert's art can be found worldwide. You can see a wonderful golden tabernacle and monstrance in the Gaukirche of Paderborn in Germany. You can pray his Stations of the Cross in the parish church of Strassen in Luxembourg or at St. Vincent de Paul's in Huntington Beach, California. You can admire his decorations at a college in Portugal or a chapel in Cairo. There are many examples of his work scattered throughout Scandinavia.
We offer a wide variety of his solid bronze plaques in the Gift Shop and Scholar Shop. Each plaque is conceived and cast in Germany and depicts a saint in Weinert's recognizable style. See our selection of Egino Weinert art on our website.
Source: http://www.cki.altervista.org/alterpages/files/Egino_English.pdf