201 - Alfred Hofkunst, “Matratze”, drawing/watercolour from 1969 in museum format (194.5 x 114.5 cm), framed

Alfred Hofkunst, “Matratze”, drawing/watercolour from 1969 in museum format (194.5 x 114.5 cm), framed Alfred Hofkunst, 1942 Vienna - 2004 Montet-sur-Cudrefin, a leading Austrian-Swiss graphic artist, painter and stage designer, who took part in documenta 1977. He gained international renown for his highly detailed, surreal and often monumental pencil and coloured-pencil drawings in the trompe-l’œil (optical illusion) style, which depicted everyday objects with astonishing realism and subtle humour; here: ‘Mattress’, drawing/watercolour/coloured pencil/paper, 194.5 x 114.5 cm, signed and dated ‘69’ on the right, framed under glass. Provenance: Galerie Stangl/Munich, exhibited on loan at the Neue Pinakothek, Munich, in 1975; acquired by the current owner at Sotheby’s/Zurich on 5 June 2018, “Swiss Art/Swiss Made”, Lot 82About the artist: Alfred Hofkunst was born in Vienna and moved to Switzerland with his family in 1948. Following an apprenticeship as a typesetter and theatre painter in Zurich, he initially worked as a set designer at the Stadttheater Bern. From 1965, he worked as a freelance artist and, from 1966, devoted himself almost exclusively to drawing. Alfred Hofkunst was closely connected to the Swiss art scene and maintained close friendships with artists such as Jean Tinguely, Bernhard Luginbühl and Daniel Spoerri. In 1948, his family moved to Zurich, where he began an apprenticeship as a typesetter in 1958-59 and, from 1959 to 1963, an apprenticeship as a stage painter at the Zurich City Theatre. In 1960, Hofkunst acquired Austrian citizenship in addition to his Swiss citizenship. His marriage to Claire Hofkunst-Guillet in 1963 produced three children: Rahel, Lukas and Esther. From 1963, he worked for two years as a set designer at the Bern City Theatre. From 1965, Alfred Hofkunst worked independently and, from 1966, exclusively as an illustrator. A life-size figure of his studio ceiling and walls, presented as a drawn installation, was first exhibited on 25 August 1972 at the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, and again in 1977 at documenta 6 in Kassel. Works by Alfred Hofkunst are held in many collections and museums in Switzerland and other countries, including: Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau; Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne; Kunstmuseum Winterthur; Grafische Sammlung Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. (Cannot be posted; art transport service recommended!)