Lot 47 | Sigmar Polke | "Meisterwerk als Ramsch versteigert"

POLKE, SIGMAR
1941 Oels/Lower Silesia - 2010 Cologne

Title: "Meisterwerk als Ramsch versteigert".
Technique: Mixed media on canvas.
Measurement: 39,5 x 49,5cm.
Notation: Titled in the centre: Meisterwerk als Ramsch versteigert. As well as inscribed ans signed verso: Ramsch als Meisterwerk veredelt! bitteschön Sigmar Polke.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.


The paint application contains various chemicals that change the work over time.

We thank Mr. Michael Trier for the kind, scientific support.

Provenance
- Galerie Erhard Klein, Bonn
- Collection Kasper König, Berlin

Exhibitions:
- Galerie Thomas Fischer, Berlin 2018
- Palais Populaire, Berlin 2023

Known for his experimental techniques, his critical examination of the art market, consumer society, pop culture and political issues, the German painter, photographer and graphic artist Sigmar Polke is considered one of the most influential artists of the post-war period.

Polke and his companions
After his family fled Silesia, Polke grew up in East Germany and moved to Düsseldorf in the West in 1953. There, Polke completed an apprenticeship as a glass painter and then studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Karl Otto Götz and Gerhard Hoehme from 1961 to 1967. Together with his fellow students Manfred Kuttner, Konrad Lueg and Gerhard Richter, he organised his first exhibition under the name ''Kapitalistischer Realismus'' (Capitalist Realism). Many more national and international group and solo exhibitions followed. The 1970s are characterised by an intensive exchange with other artists and cultural workers at his Gaspelshof in Willich and in Switzerland, as well as by trips abroad, for example to Afghanistan, Pakistan and New York.

Experiments with different materials and techniques
Polke's oeuvre is characterised by his playful approach to materials and techniques. He experiments with various media such as painting, photography, printmaking and film and uses unconventional materials such as synthetic resins, chemical substances and edible ingredients. The present work is a fascinating and provocative example of his multi-layered artistic practice. Here, too, he uses a mixture of different materials and techniques that illustrate his characteristic irony and social criticism. The picture shows a seemingly random and chaotic composition. At first glance, the work looks like a collage or a jumbled collection of different elements. It seems as if sections of prints, drawings and paintings have been combined and superimposed. Polke's coarse brushstrokes provide additional distance and diffuseness. The piece is completed by the mocking lettering.

Irony to the art market
The title "Meisterwerk als Ramsch versteigert" (Masterpiece auctioned as junk) is an ironic reference to the commercialisation of art and the question of the true value of a work of art. In this work, Polke plays with the idea of ' Ramsch' - inferior goods - that suddenly acquire a different, higher value through their context or presentation. This questions the mechanisms of the art market and encourages reflection on the perception of art. The deliberately simple, almost amateurish presentation contrasts with the high artistic quality and the profound concept behind the work. In 'Meisterwerk als Ramsch versteigert', Polke uses the approach of questioning and dissolving the boundaries between art and everyday culture, between high art and trivial art. 'Meisterwerk als Ramsch versteigert' plays a special role in Kasper König's private collection. König repeatedly emphasises the irony of the work and praises how Polke deconstructs the expectations of 'high art' and its presentation. The pictorial criticism of the art world can also be read as a humorous commentary on social values.