A.R. Penck (1939-2017), Drei von Vielen (Three of Many), 1999

acrylic and silkscreen on canvas

130 x 160 cm

Price: £126,400 plus any applicable taxes

Considered a Neo-Expressionist, A.R. Penck (1939 – 2017) is best known for his paintings and sculptures characterized by simplified figures and forms, and neo-primitive symbols and patterns. His interest lay in the development of a pictorial language based on a simple system of signs, which would be possible for everyone to decode. The result was a radical reduction in form to a series of outlined stick figures, which he called “Standart”, in reference to the signals associated with commonly known standard symbols. He achieved an abstraction of complex, socio-economic situations in flat, pictorial compositions infused with symbolism. Penck was driven not by any system or rational narrative, but by apparent chaos and emotion. In every drawing and every painting he set out to create a purely visual space where the imagination can thrive and viewers can lose themselves.