Gunter Grass is one of the most importanta German writers of the 20th century, and his masterpiece - incidentally his first novel - Tin Drum is still remembered as one of the best books ever written. Which was later adapted for cinema by Volker Schlondorff, with David Bennent in a brillian performance as Oskar, the little drummer, one of the masterpieces that made a landmark in the history of movies. But unfortunatelly for Grass, this long time social-democrat, considered to be an example of morality, intelectual honesty and verticality shocked the entire world by publishing the first part of his autobiography, Peeling the Onion. It was here that Grass finally confessed that at 16 he became a part of a Waffen - SS army group, although he didn't actually kill or hurt anyone. This confession, although finally made, was considered to have been made much too late for a man of his stature, who was accused of hiding the truth, for fear of hurting his literary career. Whatever the reason this hugely inflated campagin of accusations and dirt didn't diminish his importance in European literature. Not for one bit.
But little is known that the author of the Tin Drum, Peeling the Onion, Local Anaestetic, The Rat and many, many other titles, was actually trained to be a sculptor, and he wasn't a bad one, quite tallented actually. And he also drew and painted some works, few of these surviving the passing of time.
Gunter Grass was born in 1927 in a German-Polish family, rather poor, and during the war he was enrolled in a Waffen SS unit. It was in his childhood that he had discovered art, collecting postal cards with art reproductions. Captured by the American, he worked as a labourer and later began studying art, in Dusseldorf and Berlin, before that working as an amateur. At first Grass was drawn mainly towards drawings and, in a lesser degree, painting. Marked and influenced especially by Old Masters and, rather surprisingly, by what the Nazis called "degenerate art", It was sometime later, starting with 1956, that he really began working and earning a living as an artist, at first being a stone carver. The experience will later inspire a similar chapter in Tin Drum, when Oskar worked as a stone carver.
At first Grass made funeral stones, but later continued with his drawings and paintings and eventually enrolled at sculpture studies, living in a small church sponsored home. Gunter Grass produced several sculptures, mostly using live models - with a strong prefference for female models - as well as religious scenes, busts, portraits, several decorative funeral works. In painting and graphical arts he was drawn towards landscapes, still lifes and some portraits, and also alegorical compositions. He would also make several of the illustrations and covers for his own books, surprisingly beautiful.
In 1959 he published his very first novel, The Tin Drum, a masterpiece which began a long and succesfull career as a writer, poet and political activist, during which Grass won several prizes and distinctions, including the Nobel Prize. His books were translated into several languages, had several editions, and were commented upon all over the world. During all of this time, still Grass continued to paint, draw and sometimes sculpt, all for his own pleasure, as a relaxing hobby - the other being cooking.
Is is simply fascinating to know that such a great writer could be also so much into the magic of plastic arts and often chose to spend his energy and time into creating small fragments of his vision. But not with words, but in stone, wood, paint, crayon and so many others. Gunter Grass, the unknown artist.
September 2008
