TIM EITEL

Born in 1971 in Leonberg, Germany
Lives and works between Berlin and Paris

Tim Eitel uses painting to create analogies with reality, constructing fictional parallel worlds from situations he has seen and experienced. His paintings are based on encounters, photographed objects, or spaces that actually exist. Eitel’s paintings do not tell stories, but rather present a moment without beginning or end, defined by a constellation of figures in space, the fading of light on architectural forms, and the relationships between colors. Tim Eitel’s works are a profound exploration of the perception of space, light, and temporality, testing the possibilities of painting to represent these elements.

He studied at the Leipzig Academy of Fine Arts (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst) from 1997 to 2001 and was a Master’s student (Meisterschüler) of Professor Arno Rink from 2001 to 2003. He has received several prestigious awards throughout his career, including the Landesgraduiertenstipendium, Saxony, Germany (2002) and the Marion Ermer Preis (2003). Co-founder of the Galerie LIGA collective in Berlin, he was one of the leading figures of the new Leipzig School before establishing himself as one of the most important painters of his generation. He has participated in more than fifty group exhibitions and some thirty solo exhibitions worldwide since 2000, including at the Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland (2004); Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, USA (2005); Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany (2008); Rochester Art Center, Minnesota, USA (2013); Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria (2013); and Kasteel Wijlre, Netherlands (2018); Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts, Germany (2019); Daegu Art Museum, South Korea (2020); Böttcherstraße Museum, Bremen, Germany (2022); MUCEM Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations, Marseille, France (2023); Kunsthalle Rostock (2024); Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France (2024); Centre Pompidou-Metz (2025); and most recently, the New National Museum of Monaco (2026).

Eitel’s works are held in numerous important collections, including the Albertina in Vienna. ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark; Deutsche Bank Collection, Germany; Hamburger Bahnhof, Museum of Contemporary Art, Berlin; Frieder Burda Museum, Baden-Baden; Rubell Collection, Miami; Museum of Modern Art, Paris, France. Since 2015, he has led a painting workshop at the National School.

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