Norbert Lösche

Norbert Lösche

The German artist Norbert Lösche was born in 1951 near Aachen, Germany. He is self-taught and already painted as a child. He decided to attempt to make his living through painting in his twenties and succeeded.In the seventies he began to study Art History but was not satisfied with his studies and concentrated on painting and drawing. He continually worked at improving his skills as an artist. During this time he made many pencil and ink drawings in the style of psychedelic art such as Mati Klarwein, for example, or the "Wiener Schule" such as Ernst Fuchs and Arik Brauer. He was also able to produce work in the style of the Chinese landscape painters. From these hundreds of often black and white pencil drawings about 220 went into the collection of Prof. Lehmkuhl and about 100 into the collection W.U.H. There are as well, other collectors of his early period 1971-1990. In the course of time his pictures became more and more colorful.His own spiritual journey began with a study of Hinduism, entering in-depth studies of the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramcaritmanas. In 1982 he joined the community of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (known as Osho). After a visit to the commune of Bhagwan in Oregon, USA, he left the community.In the middle of the eighties he became a professional freelance artist & illustrator, providing in the beginning artwork mainly for books dealing with fantasy and spiritual themes, which he did for about 20 years. His major project was The Cosmic Tarot deck which depicts symbols and icons gathered from several different eras — from ancient Egypt to modern Europe. Symbolism is extensively used, and yet the deck is designed to remain accessible to even beginner readers. Since the first publication in 1988 more than 200,000 decks have been sold worldwide. He wrote an instruction book for his Cosmic Tarot that is no longer printed.As the years progressed Lösche incorporated more colour into his work but is still a dab hand with pen and ink. In the early 1990s he started to create abstract paintings in the style of Kandinsky and Miro, and then moved onto abstract expressionism. This process helped free Lösche as an artist and was a great benefit to him when he went on to paint murals, another style he also mastered.In 1994 Norbert Lösche met the Tibetan masters Sogyal Rinpoche and Dzogchen Rinpoche in southern France. Since then he has been a practicing Buddhist, received numerous teachings and initiations from Tibetan lamas, especially of the Drikung Kagyu lineage. In 1999, a first series of Buddha images was created using airbrush technology. In 2002 he withdrew into a six-month retreat and a second series of Buddha images in acrylic on canvas was created. He became so skillful in Thangka painting that Tibetan monks allowed him to apply his creative art in Buddhist centers. He also wrote an illustrated introduction to Tibetan Buddhism.In the years 2005 to 2007 he immersed himself in the mystical work of Kabbalah and the tree of life, which is reflected in his art through to today.In 2007 he wrote a book “How to Paint Mandalas.” Mandalas have since decades, always been one of the symbols that have appeared in his paintings.Lösche learned to use Photoshop after the turn of the Millennium. By using this new medium he was able to create digital paintings and compositions. His digital art is another area which he is exploring and developing. He is continuously striving to cultivate his artistic talents.