372 - George Pusenkoff, “Who is afraid of The Screen - Who is afraid of Helmut Newton”, oil painting from 2001, framed

George Pusenkoff, “Who is afraid of The Screen - Who is afraid of Helmut Newton”, oil painting from 2001, framed George Pusenkoff (Georgy Nikolaevich Pusenkoff) *1953 Krasnapolle - lives and works in Cologne, German-Belarusian painter, installation artist and photographer, representative of postmodernism, shown here: “Who is afraid of The Screen - Who is afraid of Helmut Newton”, acrylic painting on canvas, 70 x 70 cm, signed, inscribed and dated on the reverse: Cologne 2001. Significance of the painting: In 1995, George Pusenkoff was sued by the photographer Helmut Newton because Newton saw in Pusenkoff’s artwork “Power of Blue” an (unauthorised) adaptation of one of his own works. Newton was of the opinion that Pusenkoff’s artwork resembled his own work so closely in its key elements that it constituted plagiarism. The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg ruled in Pusenkoff’s favour, as his adaptation had altered almost all the core elements of Helmut Newton’s photograph to such an extent that there was, in fact, hardly anything left that resembled Newton’s artwork. The case caused quite a stir at the time, even internationally, and is also mentioned in the book *Digital Art and Free Use*, published in 2018. About the artist: George Pusenkoff studied computer science at the National Research University of Electronic Technology in Moscow from 1971 to 1976. From 1977 to 1983, he studied art (graphic design and painting) at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute, now known as the Moscow State University of Printing Arts. Since 1984, he has taken part in exhibition projects in Moscow as well as in other cities across the USSR and abroad. During his time in the USSR, Pusenkoff was regarded as a non-conformist. In 1987, he joined the Ermitage Artists’ Association and in 1988 became a member of the Moscow Group 88. He has also been a member of the Moscow Artists’ Union since 1987. At the invitation of the gallery owner Hans Mayer, George Pusenkoff came to Germany in 1990 and has lived and worked in Cologne ever since. Although Pusenkoff defines himself as a classical painter, he nevertheless utilises the possibilities offered by the computer in the creation of his works.