94 - ULRICH HACHULLA

ULRICH HACHULLA (Born in 1943 in Heydebreck (Upper Silesia); worked in Leipzig) Steps, 1990 Mixed media on hardboard. 100 x 80 cm. Framed. Monogrammed and dated (19)90 on the lower right. Label on the reverse. Provenance: Private collection, Hesse Ulrich Hachulla is a prominent representative of the Leipzig School; he studied at the Academy of Visual Arts under Werner Tübke and Bernhard Heisig and later taught there himself. His paintings depict frozen behaviors, states of distance and alienation; they tell of oppressive confinement and rebellious attempts to escape, often with a humorous undertone. This is also the case here: The room is open, the door stands wide open, yet the two figures in the foreground remain frozen in their postures—a touch without affection, a gaze turned inward, a waiting pose. Only the leaping figure almost dissolves into the light; he is the smallest figure in the painting and will soon no longer be present. The transformation of spaces, the act of entering, staying, and leaving—but also the sense of being lost—are the themes of this work, which was created in 1990, during a particularly significant period in German history.