Penck, A.R. | Serie I Rächer, 1991 — available on Composition Gallery

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Hand-signed, numbered.

Serie I Racher blazes with flat fields of orange, yellow and earthy brown. At left a luminous yellow figure stands marked with dark spiralling whorls and scattered red dots; at right a brown stick-figure raises its arms before a radiating sunburst of orange and gold. Penck's archaic pictographs and sign-systems pulse with primal energy, recalling cave painting and ancient symbol alike. A leading German Neo-Expressionist and key voice of the postwar Eastern bloc, he hand-signed and numbered this 1991 etching and aquatint, a vivid, totemic image from his unmistakable visual language.

A.R. Penck (Germany, 1939–2017), born Ralf Winkler, was a neo-expressionist artist known for his bold, symbolic paintings and sculptures. His works often featured stick figures and graphic symbols, addressing themes of power, conflict, and humanity. Emerging from East Germany, Penck’s art became a defining voice of postwar European expressionism.

A.R. Penck

Serie I Rächer, 1991

Name: Serie I Rächer, 1991
SKU: 17563
Price: 2800.00 EUR
Availability: InStock

Form

Limited Edition Print

Limited Edition PrintA limited edition print is one of a number of prints made at the same time from one printmaking plate. A fixed number are made and signed by the artist, indicating the printing order, using the format 1/10, meaning first of ten prints.

Medium

Etching and Aquatint

Etching and AquatintEtching and aquatint are printmaking techniques. In aquatint, the printing plate is etched with a pattern of tiny pits and cracks to create a wide range of tonal gradations. This technique allows artists to replicate the broad, flat tones found in watercolor paintings and ink washes.

Edition

Edition of 50

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A.R. Penck is a German sculptor, printmaker, painter and jazz percussionist. His early artistic education took place with other neo-expressionist painters in the city of Dresden, and he joined such figures as Georg Baselitz, Joerg Immendorff and Markus Luepertz, all of whom were considered as instigators of dissident by the East German government.
Their work appeared in several West Berlin shows in the 1970s, moving on to major galleries and museums in Western Europe in the 1980s, most famously in the "New Art" show at London's Tate Gallery in 1983. In the 1980s, A.R. Penck was known for paintings featuring human forms drawn with neo-primitivist design, including pictographic elements, human figures and other forms that appear on totems. His work continued to show up in many significant shows in New York City and London. A.R. Penck’s sculpture is less well known but expresses the same ideas as his drawings and paintings in terms of primitivism. His sculptures incorporate everyday materials such as cardboard, bottles, tin cans and wood, and they show crude assembly methods to evoke that primitive ambiance.

What is Happening?

A Happening is a term used to describe artistic and theatrical events held by artists in the 1950s and 60s. These events were typically staged in gallery installations or planned environments and often involved audience participation, along with elements like lighting, sounds, and slide projections. Happenings were a precursor to performance art, which later included the active participation of the artists themselves.

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A.R. Penck

Serie I Rächer, 1991

107 x 75 cm

Language & Currency

A.R. Penck