Property from an Important Private Collection, Baden-Wuerrtemberg
Die Burg (The Castle)
Lot Closed
June 5, 12:09 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 EUR
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Description
Property from an Important Private Collection, Baden-Wuertemberg
Thomas Schütte
b. 1954
Die Burg (The Castle)
signed, titled, dated 1984 and inscribed Eine Serie von 15 Bildern (on the verso)
lacquer and gouache on paper
100 by 70 cm.
39⅜ by 27½ in.
Executed in 1984.
Private Collection, Baden-Wuerrtemberg (by 2007)
A leading figure of contemporary German art, Thomas Schütte (b. 1954) has consistently challenged the traditional boundaries between sculpture, architecture, and drawing. Educated at the Düsseldorf Academy under Gerhard Richter and Fritz Schwegler, Schütte’s early work reveals a distinctive engagement with forms of shelter, power, and societal structures - themes that have remained central to his practice over the following decades.
Executed in 1984, Die Burg belongs to a rare series of 15 works that represent one of Schütte’s first investigations into architectural imagery. Using lacquer and gouache on paper, the work depicts a massive structure, colored in red - part fortress, part bunker, part fantastical building. The present piece stands out for its gouache application, composed around an oval form at the center. This central composition is encircled by black paint, further emphasizing the vivid colours within. In Die Burg, Schütte explores architecture as both a refuge and a source of threat, creating a powerful metaphor for protection and isolation. The tension between openness and fortification, between sanctuary and imprisonment has since become a hallmark of Schütte’s artistic language.
Further examples of the Die Burg series are held in major institutional collections, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris or the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Schütte’s continued exploration of architectural forms is currently on view in the major 2025 exhibition at the Pinault Collection in Venice, underscoring the lasting resonance of his oeuvre.
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