Profile: Manuela Rathje

See Manuela Rathjes artwork here

After 30 years as a banker, Manuela Rathje finally returned to her roots in 2012, dedicating her work exclusively to art. The affinity to the fine arts, which had already come to light in early childhood, and which was actively encouraged by her family, first led her to become a draftsman, but she only practiced it for a short time and, as she puts it, art "put her in the corner".

Only in 1996 did she start again, at first in her spare time, to deal with the creation of art in the form of watercolor painting and in 2010 she switched to acrylic painting. In the same year she founded the studio Manou in her hometown Flintbek and started a training as a studio manager for 2 years. Over several years, she expanded her knowledge in a self-taught study with renowned artists.

Within a few years, she developed her unmistakable style, which stands out in particular through expressive color compositions and the focus on a locally deliberately exaggerated realism. The obvious contradiction between the subject matter and the expressive use of expressive colors challenges the viewer, leaving him room for a completely individual approach to the work despite the strikingly staged protagonists.

The emergence of her pictures describes them as process-oriented, only in the course of the image becoming manifest the ultimately represented. This approach, familiar from Informel's non-abstract abstract painting, gives her work a fresh dynamic which is unparalleled in modern painting. The increasing interest of her works of art is growing steadily through national and international exhibitions.

 

Galleries and exhibitions:

Galerie Tobien in Husum                                                                                       

Galerie Ewa Helena in Hamburg

Galerie Gerd Uhlig in Hamburg

Galerie Runge in Kiel

Galerie  M. Beck in Homburg

Galerien Interface in Hamburg

Galerie Millerntor gallery in Hamburg Auktion über Christie´s

Galerie Steiner in Wien- Österreich

Galerie Event Art in Dresden

Galerie Kunst Direkt in Hamburg

Galerie Novum in Basel

Galerie Soul in El Gouna-Ägypten

Galerie André Chahil in Hamburg

Galerie / Atelier Masch und Winderlich in Schleswig

Kiel, Schau der 1000 Bilder, 2016

New York Art Expo 2018

Kiel  Schau der 1000 Bilder, 2018

Dresden Neue Art 2019

Art Sindelfingen 2019

Millerntor gallery- Kunstauktion Christie´s 2019

Kunstmaad Ameland 2019

Dresden Neue Art 2020

Art Sindelfingen 2020