I was born into a family, dedicated to the Fine Arts for three generations :
My mother’s grandfather had founded an art-editorial with gallery in Lübeck/ Germany and passed it on to his son, married to another art-dealer in Hamburg . Wilhelm Möller, that was his name.He sold the works of my father, the sculptor and painter Karl Borromäus Kraus from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The smell of modeling clay mixed with the one of oil paint and watching my father at work belong to my fondest childhood memories.
Being thus genetically predetermined as well as intuitively inclined , I was reluctant to accept my calling as an artist.” Many are called but few are chosen “ , but who does not expect to be chosen, if he is called, despite the threat of poverty as punishment for haughtiness?
At the age of thirteen however, I met art teachers , who convinced me ,that I did have to follow my calling and study the Fine Arts for, as an Art teacher I could combine my artistic inclination with the security of a steady job .
With this in mind,after the conclusion of my secondary education ,I started to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich ,painting, sculpture , mechanical drawing, philosophy , Art history and bronze casting . Later I went to Berlin, to study abstract sculpture. How disappointed was I when I found out, that whatever diploma I would get to become a teacher, it would only be recognized in the province ,where it was issued. To stay in Berlin , then a city torn in two parts, for the rest of my life, this was not what I wanted.
My years in Berlin, round the notorious 1968 had drawn me like all other students into political discussions as well as actions. The arguments I was confronted with ,appear from today’s point of view, quite taliban .” How can you “ , they would ask “ create objects of beauty, while you see the desperate state of this world, the injustice all over, the war in Vietnam, the rainbow press making people stupid ? “ Now we can add to this the man -made climate change and mankind behaving like people on the “Titanic “ fighting about the best seats . “The world needs creative minds like yours to fight all this ,to make this world a better place “ they told me . True enough, I took part in demonstrations, found out about the Nazi- past not only of the German chancellor Kiesinger but that of judges as well, down to simple policemen,a terrible situation which left no one untouched. But I found out as well about the power structures forming inside the revolting students and their macho- behavior towards women. And here I was, learning Art history, philosophy and the rest and at the same time trying to invent new shapes,abstract sculptures with the thought hammering in the back of my mind : “What for ?“.But how can a bird justify its singing ? Why does it not howl like a wolf ?
At the end of my studies in Berlin I was awarded a scholarship which allowed me to stay a year in the Irish republic, far away from demonstrations and violence, that was in the South while the North was all in civil war. Here I created an elaborated abstract sculpture, based on a philosophical and geometric concept which took me all year to complete. Beside this I tried to get order into my thoughts about the purpose of Art and my personal task in this world. The result was a thick book , where I tried to justify the existence of Art ,despite the desperate situation of this world.
When the scholarship year came to an end , I wished to stay in Ireland, so I accepted the job as an Art teacher at the “ Christian Brother’s school in Kilkenny. In my theoretic research I had come to the conclusion that Art should be able to instill a creative spirit into mankind Herbert Read ‘s “ Education through Art “ was the standard work for all aspiring Art teachers .
Although I was quite popular among my students, I felt that I did not achieve anything at all. Out of thirty pupils there were two talented ones the rest was there because the law had forced them to be at school.
During my scholarship-year I had met a young neighbor who was a diabetic and had nothing at all to do, bored himself and his neighbors . This man began to flourish , when I gave him material and encouraged him to paint. He did a great job in his naïve way , he established himself in a cottage close to his home and really sat down to work. My and my fellow artist’s encouragement however had gone to his head and when he found out, that he was not immediately recognized by the galleries as the genius he thought he was, he poured petrol over himself , lit it and burned to death. After this I never dared to encourage anyone to engage in artistic activities.
As the year with the Christian Brothers came to an end, the government grant which allowed the school to employ me had expired and I had to look for another job. The director of the Art school of Limerick offered me a teaching job there but I did not take it, this was one of the worst decisions of my life. I wanted to see more of the world and not be stuck in the province with the same people year after year, not being able to grow,this was my explanation then.
I wanted to see the world and this I did and I found answers to the questions about the purpose of Art and my task as an artist. I traveled to the Far East and saw what artists do there. Apart from the fact, that in countries where they write from right to left , their pictures too have to be read from right to left. Having studied at the academies my approach towards Art was not to create something for sale but more like a scientist to explore the possibilities of visual perception. It took me a long time to bring myself to put a price tag on any of my works which is not convenient if you want to live on your Art. Before I left for India I had made a series of cages for small animals and had confronted them with lifelike human figures .( I could not stick to abstract Art alone ) Later I found out, that all these objects just reflected my personal situation and this, I know now, is nobody’s business. In India however I became aware that as an artist I must accept whatever comes my way as a challenge and solve the problems as good as only I can do it. However, as aesthetic decisions are based on the pleasure-principle that is : I like to see this therefore It must be like this. So I paint only what I like to see and human suffering I do not want to see nor do I want to spend my time with it. Crucified Jesusses, martyrs stoned to death ,pierced by arrows, battle scenes all this has made artists rich and even today’s entertainment industry lives on cruelty and suffering. So this somehow narrows the scope of my creative activities and dictators on horseback have to be done by others .
To be creative means to let the Creator act through us- a dangerous statement but lots of us feel it this way. We perceive new ideas as something which is given to us when we search for them ,this is our daily work but the blessing comes from above.
Some writers would not distinguish as sharply as this and proclaim whatever they do as manifestation of the Divine Will, this may be the case since nothing ,by definition ,happens against it but who is in a position to evaluate it ? Not I. If somebody justifies his acts as to be inspired by God, like the guys who ran their planes into the World Trade Center,to those I keep a distance as far as possible.
Some of them gather disciples, ,call their products sacred, ,later generations perform these texts in a theatrical way and freeze them into rituals , reduced into articles of faith.
The rest of us sign our works with our names
( Leonardo da Vinci is an exception ) ,may they be divinely inspired or not, assuming thus a responsibility for something ,which we only partially perceive as our personal merit.
“ Everything transitory is but a parable “
( Goethe )
Peter Matthias Kraus 