Martin Stommel was born in 1969. From 1994 to 1997 Stommel first studied at the State Academy of Arts in Munich with professor Bernhard Weißhaar. In 1998 he changed to the University of Arts, Berlin (HdK) with Klaus Fußmann.
In the years 2001 to 2007 Stommel came into contact with the world of circus, resulting in a series of paintings and drawings of circus performers and scenes in the circus ring. He portrayed the most famous clowns of our time, like Oleg Popov, Francesco Caroli, David Larible or Fumagalli, cooperating especially with Berhard Paul‘s Circus Roncalli.
In 2004 Stommel was invited by Prince Rainier III to exhibit his series of circus paintings in the Principality of Monaco.
Since the 2000s the paintings of Martin Stommel have been shown in numerous exhibitions, among others in the Lehmbruck Museum, Kallmann Museum, Museum Ch. Zander, Museum am Dom Trier, Stadtmuseum Bonn. Further exhibitions took place in the Théâtre Princesse Grace (Monaco), the Lew Kopelew Forum (Cologne), the Katholische Akademie in Bayern (Munich) and at the Venice Biennial (European Cultural Center).
Stommel‘s art works have been featured by several galleries on art fairs in Cologne, Karlsruhe, Berlin, Munich, Essen and Lübeck, as well as at the „Salon der Gegenwart“ in Hamburg and the London Print Fair in the Royal Academy.
Art works of Martin Stommel are in public collections (i. a. German Business Secretary, former Staatsgästehaus Petersberg, City of Wesseling, City of Ismaning, City of Bonn) as well as in many private collections, for example Grillo (Duisburg), Slifka (New York), Klöcker (Frankfurt), Barthlott (Bonn) and Zander (Bönnigheim).
