Markus Tollmann: the neo-expressionist who works between Mallorca and Liechtenstein

Markus Tollmann has been painting against restraint for four decades. Born in 1963, the German neo-expressionist took private drawing lessons with Joseph Beuys, worked in Francis Bacon’s London studio and has shown from the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg to CCA Andratx on Mallorca. He now divides his time between two studios, one on the island, one in Liechtenstein.

A studio instead of a nursery

Markus Tollmann was born in 1963 in Gelsenkirchen-Buer, in a Ruhr valley that still smelled of coal and already smelled of art. His father, the artist Günther Tollmann, ran a house where work and hospitality shared the same room. The names that passed through it read today like a roll call of the European post-war avant-garde: Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Yves Klein, Joseph Beuys.

For a child, that means one thing above all: colour is not an occasion, it is daily life. Tollmann met Pablo Picasso while still a boy, and at the age of nine he showed his own work in a public exhibition for the first time. From 1978 he received private drawing lessons with Joseph Beuys. From 1981 he worked in London in the studio of Francis Bacon, the painter who treated the human body as an open question.

Those two teachers explain a great deal about the hand that followed. From Beuys came the idea that art is an act and not a decoration. From Bacon came the nerve to keep working a face until it shows more than a likeness.

Bremen, New York, London

In 1984 Tollmann opened his first gallery in Bremen. A year later he became a master student of his father. During the 1980s his works were shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and towards the end of the decade he advised the auction house Christie’s in London.

The route from studio to gallery floor to saleroom is rare, and it changes how an artist sees. Knowing how a work is traded tends to make a painter more independent, not less. In Tollmann’s case it did not soften the visual language. It freed it.

Colour-saturated female portrait by Markus Tollmann in red, pink, turquoise and yellow with black contour lines — The face as a colour field: in Tollmann’s portraits the mood is carried by pigment, not by detail.

The hand: colour that does not negotiate

Neo-expressionism puts gesture, feeling and colour ahead of faithful depiction, and Tollmann works squarely in that line. His subjects are human encounter, the portrait, movement and the emotional force of colour. What happens in the paintings is rarely quiet: large formats on canvas, strong fields of colour, contours that look torn rather than drawn.

Spend a minute in front of one and the apparent speed turns out to be a trick of the eye. The lines land where they should. A face stays legible even when a cheek is turquoise and the shadow under an eye is pink. That is the point where craft begins and effect ends.

Every work produced in the studio is an original on canvas, signed and supplied with a certificate of authenticity. Alongside the paintings there are lithographs and sculptures, because Tollmann works as a sculptor as well as a painter.

Faces you already know

According to the artist, his sitters have included Peter Struck, Johannes Rau, Mario Adorf, Pink, Ralf Moeller, Randy Anderson and Paul Bernard of Circus Roncalli. A portrait of Pierre Brice is also on record.

What stands out is how little these pictures have to do with the classical portrait of office and dignity. They are about temperament. A Tollmann portrait is a claim about a person rather than a proof of one.

Expressive female face in red, yellow and pink with black brushstrokes, signed by Markus Tollmann — A work from the context of the exhibition at CCA Andratx on Mallorca.

The Mediterranean as a stage

In 2005 the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg gave Tollmann a solo exhibition together with a monographic publication. In 2007 came a showing at MOMA Hamburg. In 2016 large-format works were presented in the Philippe Starck-designed frames of Port Adriano harbour on Mallorca, a place where yachts and art share the same backdrop.

In 2024 he held a solo exhibition at CCA Andratx, one of the most important houses for contemporary art in the Balearics. The artist’s own website lists Zurich and Stuttgart as further stops for 2025. Today Markus Tollmann lives and works between his studios on Mallorca and in Liechtenstein.

One part of his work rarely reaches the catalogues. Tollmann takes part regularly in international charity events and supports projects through donated works, editions and auction contributions, with a focus on children’s aid, culture and humanitarian causes.

What this has to do with the Costa del Sol

Tollmann’s exhibition history runs through Mallorca rather than Andalusia. He is still no stranger to the coast between Estepona and Málaga, because the audience is the same one: international collectors with a second home on the Mediterranean, often German-speaking, often with a wall that needs a decision made about it.

And Málaga has long been an art city with its own gravity. Anyone drawn to a position like Tollmann’s will find a dense sounding board in the city, from the Museo Picasso and the wider museum landscape to the contemporary art scene. For galleries, collectors and artists, Mallorca and the Costa del Sol have been a single route for years.

Buying an original

Sales run directly through the studio rather than through an anonymous market. The points the studio itself sets out:

Unique works: original paintings are one-offs, signed and delivered with a hand-signed certificate of authenticity including catalogue raisonné number, provenance and reference photograph.
Catalogue: if a work is later resold, the studio asks to be informed in advance so that the chain of provenance stays complete.
Transport: shipping is fully insured through logistics firms specialised in art, with a white-glove service including hanging available for large formats.
Studio visits: possible by appointment in Liechtenstein and on Mallorca, or as a private preview by video.
Returns: the studio points out that there is no statutory right of withdrawal for individually produced unique works.

Current work is shown in the gallery at markustollmann.de. The selection changes, and it changes faster than any catalogue could follow.

Markus Tollmann in a floral shirt standing in front of a large framed work on a concrete wall — The artist in front of one of his own works. His line on it: art begins where others stop.

A position that refuses to get quieter

Some artists turn the volume down with the years. Tollmann is not one of them. His paintings want something from the viewer, they are built for contact. That is exactly what makes them interesting in rooms otherwise governed by white walls, pale stone and a sea view. A wall on the Costa del Sol can take more colour than most architectural photography suggests.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who is Markus Tollmann?

Markus Tollmann is a German painter and sculptor, born in 1963 in Gelsenkirchen-Buer. He is a neo-expressionist and works mainly on large-format originals on canvas. He lives and works between his studios on Mallorca and in Liechtenstein.

Who did Markus Tollmann study with?

From 1978 Tollmann received private drawing lessons with Joseph Beuys, and from 1981 he worked in Francis Bacon’s London studio. In 1985 he became a master student of his father, the artist Günther Tollmann. He had already met Pablo Picasso as a child.

Where have Markus Tollmann’s works been shown?

In 2005 the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg gave him a solo exhibition with a monographic publication, followed by MOMA Hamburg in 2007. In 2016 large-format works were shown in the Philippe Starck frames of Port Adriano harbour on Mallorca, and in 2024 he held a solo exhibition at CCA Andratx.

What style does Markus Tollmann work in?

Tollmann works in a neo-expressionist idiom. Gesture, feeling and colour come before faithful depiction. His subjects are human encounter, the portrait, movement and the emotional force of colour.

Whom has Markus Tollmann portrayed?

How do you buy an original by Markus Tollmann?

Sales run directly through the studio. Every original is a unique work, signed and delivered with a hand-signed certificate of authenticity including catalogue number, provenance and reference photograph. Shipping is fully insured through specialised art logistics, and studio visits are possible by appointment in Liechtenstein and on Mallorca.