Some exciting news for Kinski fans, there will shortly be an exhibition of Kinski photographs taken by the photographer Beat Presser http://www.beatpresser.com/

Beat Presser worked on Werner Herzog’s films Fitzcarraldo (as camera assistant and still photographer) and Cobra Verde (as still photographer) and can also be seen alongside Klaus and Werner in the documentaries My Best Fiend (also directed by Werner) and Location Africa (aka Herzog in Africa, directed by Steff Gruber). During the filming of Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde Beat Presser had access to Kinski (or should I say Kinski had access to Beat Presser and his camera?!!) and took some of the most beautiful portraits of him, see the following webpages:

http://www.klaus-kinski.com/ 

http://www.klaus-kinski.com/kinski/index.html

http://www.klaus-kinski.com/kinski2/index.html

This exhibition, to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of Klaus Kinski’s death (23 November 1991), starts on 8 April at the Westpreußisches Landesmuseum in Münster, Germany.  A catalogue will be available to purchase.

Address:  Westpreußisches Landesmuseum, Kulturstiftung Westpreußen, Am Steintor 5, 48167 Münster-Wolbeck

Opening Times – Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00am to 6:00pm

The museum admission price during the exhibition is:  Adults: 4€; Children above 12 years and students: 2€.  When additional information becomes available I’ll post it on here. 

Webpage:

http://www.westpreussisches-landesmuseum.de/index.php/kinski

If your German’s rusty, check out my amateurish attempt at a translation of the webpage text:

Eccentric, rebellious, brilliant, crazy, legendary – there are many adjectives that were applied to Klaus Kinski during his lifetime. He is without a doubt one of the most influential actors and polarizing public figures of the 1960s to the 1980s. He was born Nikolaus Karl Günther Nakszynski – Kinski’s real name – 18 October 1926 in Sopot, the son of a pharmacist and a nurse. The fashionable resort of Zoppot (today called Sopot) on the Baltic Sea was part of the Free City of Danzig, the miniature State of Gdańsk, created after the First World War and was formerly long-time capital of West Prussia. In the early 1930s the family moved from there to Berlin.

Kinski began his early career as an actor whilst a British prisoner of war, which led him after the Second World War to many theatres in Berlin, Munich and Vienna and then to his first film roles. He was known to a wider public from the early sixties when he was one of the most influential figures in the Edgar Wallace films. His international career began with roles in numerous Italian productions, where he worked with Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, but his artistic work included roles in David Lean’s Dr. Zhivago (1965) or the last Billy Wilder film Buddy, Buddy (1981), in which he starred with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Among his most important artistic works are the films realized with director Werner Herzog:  Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu – Phantom der Nacht (1978), Woyzeck (1978), Fitzcarraldo (1981) and Cobra Verde (1987). Fitzcarraldo was nominated for a Golden Globe and in 1982 the American Film magazine even ran the headline: “Is Kinski the greatest actor in the world?”

The exhibition, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Kinski’s death, is a selection of photographs taken by the Swiss photographer Beat Presser during the filming of Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde on which he worked as still photographer. The high-quality images show an impressive and versatile actor at the peak of his artistic work and bring the dazzling character of Kinski alive. They provide insights into his bordering on obsessive method of acting and at the same time convey his fascinating persona, which emanated from his work.

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In case you’re not in the Münster vicinity between now and 3 October 2011 (I wasn’t going to be but now I’ve heard about the exhibition I’m planning on going this summer…), I understand the Kinski exhibition will also visit Bogota this year.  Beat Presser must be very busy as a Werner Herzog exhibition is scheduled for the end of March in Beirut as well!  More details to follow on all of this when available.

In the meantime, Beat Presser’s book Kinski (Arte Edition) is still available through Amazon and other online book sellers:     

http://www.amazon.com/Kinski-Arte-German-Beat-Presser/dp/3932529804

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS COPYRIGHT OF BEAT PRESSER