André Butzer

i. Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck

Acquired from the above in 2020 by the present owner

ii. Edition Linn, Heidelberg

Acquired from the above in 2017 by the present owner

ii. Alexander Linn (ed.), André Butzer: 7 Zeichnungen, Heidelberg 2017, no. 9, p. 4, illustrated in color

• A double-lot featuring two distinct but intimately related works on paper by the artist.

• Executed in vibrant wax crayon, highlighting the intense, saturated colour palette central to his oeuvre.

• The smaller scale offers an immediate, concentrated insight into the artist’s unique expressive vocabulary.

The present double-lot comprises two compelling works on paper that distil the essence of André Butzer’s artistic project into an intensely saturated format. Executed in wax crayon, these pieces showcase the artist's characteristic colour field, a dynamic blend of reds, oranges, and greens, which forms the backdrop for his distinctive, often mask-like, proto-figures. The energetic application of the wax crayon creates a tactile, densely layered surface that emphasizes the primal, immediate nature of his mark-making, bridging the gap between historical Expressionism and contemporary abstraction.

This pairing offers an engaging and specific point of focus within Butzer’s body of work. The artist frequently references historical masters, from Matisse to Disney, integrating them into his unique mythology centered around the fictional ‘Fantasie-Nasa-Welt.’ By citing Cézanne, Butzer subtly positions his own search for foundational form and colour, the geometric simplification of the figure and the pure, monumental application of tone, within the lineage of modern painting’s greatest innovators. The small format is atypical of his monumental canvases, making these works a potent, concentrated record of his ongoing formal investigation.

Butzer’s institutional presence reflects his significant standing in contemporary art. His work has been the subject of major solo exhibitions at leading global institutions, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (2018), and the Bonn Museum of Modern Art (Kunstmuseum Bonn) (2020).