Jörg Immendorff

Jörg Immendorff We could... we will.... 1975 Acrylic on canvas, 2 parts Each 80 x 99.5 cm. Total size 80 x 200 cm. Framed. Signed and dated 'Immendorff 75'. - With slight signs of age. Provenance Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia; Lempertz, Cologne, 21.11.1989, lot 953; Private collection, Hesse; Lempertz, Cologne, 03.12.2010, lot 52; Private collection, Rhineland-Palatinate. Jörg Immendorff is an eminently political artist who provokes, comments, intervenes, and seeks to raise awareness of social and contemporary historical contexts. "His paintings are political messages and serve to expose covered-up weaknesses of people and politicians. Like Beuys, always on the lookout for like-minded people, a leader who takes responsibility for others and wants change: image is slogan, and slogan is image. The separate spheres of validity of text and image are suspended. [...] It is an aggressive art that provokes discussion. The artist uses his privilege to fulfill his social responsibility. Immendorff creates a new 'type of history painting' expressive, striking, comic-like, ironizing. His artistic ancestors here are Kirchner, Dix and Beckmann. The picture has become obsolete as an autonomous work of art. It becomes a leaflet, a poster, an instructional panel. This corresponds to the close connection between writing and image in Immendorff's work." (Heinz Althöfer, in: Die Moral der Malkunst, in: Jörg Immendorff, Bilder, Ausst.Kat. Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund 2000, p.40).