| ARTIST BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Born in Pomerania in Eastern Germany, Gerhard Beyer was a prisoner of war in the former USSR following World War II. According to the Visual Arts Newsletter produced by Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism, during his internment, Beyer practiced his painting skills on sacks of cement mixture until a Soviet officer noticed his art and promoted him to work as an illustrator for the camp’s newspaper. He later studied at the Staatliche Kunstschule (State College) of Bremen in then-West Germany.
Beyer eventually arrived in Lethbridge in 1953, and furthered his fine arts training with courses at the University of Lethbridge; he described himself as an “expressionist impressionist” who worked in acrylic, oil, tempera, and watercolour. His portraits often convey a combination of stark and gentle lighting that imply the complexity of his human subjects.
Beyer, who was also an interior decorator and musician, participated in numerous group exhibitions around southern Alberta including O.O.P. (Oldman Outdoor Painters) at the Crowsnest Pass Allied Arts Council Gallery in Frank, AB and mounted solo exhibitions in Lethbridge including Southern Alberta Landscapes and Flowers at the Truls Gallery Restaurant, and Portraits and Landscapes at the former Bowman Arts Centre Galleries.
Numerous collections house Beyer’s work, including those of Grande Prairie’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lethbridge’s Regional Hospital, and private collectors throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe.
Beyer passed away in 2008, at the age of 84. |