Sigmar Polke

Karsten Greve, Cologne
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is richer and deeper, with the green of the water in the foreground tending more towards fluorescent yellow-green, the sunshine yellow across the top of the sky more to fluorescent yellow, and the brown-green of the sky at the horizon more to soft grass green in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. The sheet is attached to the mount at the upper left and right corners. Close examination reveals a very light diagonal crease extending down from the right side of the upper edge, two further very light creases to the upper part of the left extreme edge and two short light flattened creases to the upper right corner. The lower left extreme corner tip is bending inwards very slightly.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Sigmar Polke's artistic legacy can be found most clearly in his uncontrollable love of experimentation. The works from the breadth of his career span every conceivable medium and field of representation in an erratic, iconoclastic and wilfully inventive catalogue of innovation. His aim was to scramble the codes of artistic taste and reconfigure perceptive norms, colloquialising images from the visual field around him and re-casting them on the pictorial field via his highly personal and exhilaratingly non-conformist style. This elusive and chameleonic methodology has sculpted his career and is particularly pertinent with regard to the present lot. The broad sweeps of colour over the sheet create a powerful and enigmatic landscape, seemingly emptied of life yet filled with a magical vibrancy that is linked inextricably with Polke's own artistic aura. The present lot is a memorable and exquisite example of the artist's whole-hearted investment of his own compelling yet elusive personality into his work during one of the most fertile periods of his career.