Martin Kippenberger

Julie Sylvester, New York (acquired directly from the artist)
Alan Koppel Gallery, Chicago
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2006

This work is in very good condition overall. There are undulations to the sheet, presumably inherent to the artist's working method. The colors are vibrant and the sheet is generally clean. There are a few unobtrusive black accretions located 1 1/2 inches from the bottom edge and 8 1/2 inches from the right edge. Additionally, there is a 3/8 inch brown accretion located 4 1/2 inches from the top edge and 4 inches from the left edge. This sheet is hinged to the matte verso with archival tape at intervals at the lateral edges. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For Martin Kippenberger, whose presence was larger than life and whose life was inextricably interconnected with his art, self-portraiture was an indispensable cornerstone of his oeuvre and he toyed with this artistic genre as no other artist before him.  In typical fashion, Kippenberger held nothing sacred, including himself, so any interpretation of this indulgent trickster's work is elusive yet rewarding – a vein of modern self-presentation that borders on performance art. Kippenberger was the foremost protagonist in his paintings and he used his image deftly to confront the art world of his day as well as his role in it.

 

For the series painted in the late 1980s, in which the present work, Untitled, 1989 exemplifies his fascination with self portraiture famously rendered in reverse for the eponymous painting dated from 1988. Kippenberger firmly presents himself in the role of artist, and his figure, in its high-rising white underwear, is in self-mocking contrast to his hero Picasso. The artist was now in mid-life and his failure to achieve the "triumph'' of painting becomes his apparent subject. In 1985, Kippenberger had used the famous photograph by David Douglas Duncan of a virile Picasso in his underwear as the invitation for his exhibition at Galleria Leyendecker. In contrast to this image of Picasso as a dominant male even late in life, Kippenberger photographed himself (for use in a calendar he published in 1988) contemplating and analyzing his image in a mirror, awkwardly impersonating his hero). The muted hues and ethereal application of the watercolor suggest that Kippenberger was perhaps cognizant the decadence and self-destruction through excess that can cut short the creative life.