648 - KIRKEBY, PER

KIRKEBY, PER 1938 Copenhagen–2018 Copenhagen Title: Untitled. Date: 1977. Technique: Colored chalk on beaverboard. Dimensions: 122 x 122 cm. Notation: Signed and dated on the reverse, upper center: PER KIRKEBY 1977. Frame: Framed. The work will be included in the appendix to the catalogue raisonné of paintings from 1990 to 2018 (Vol. III), which is currently in preparation. We would like to thank Ms. Ane Hejlskov Larsen for her kind academic support. Provenance: - Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne - Private collection, southern Germany (according to the consignor, acquired from the previous owner in the 1980s) - Prominent Danish painter and sculptor with an international exhibition history - Characteristic work in the recurring square format of 122 × 122 cm - An expressive interweaving of lines and structures that bridges abstraction and the observation of nature As a painter and sculptor, Per Kirkeby ranks among the most significant Danish artists of the second half of the 20th century. He initially studied geology at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1964. Research trips to Greenland shaped his perspective on landscape, stratification, and natural structures. At the same time, Kirkeby began an experimentally oriented artistic training in Copenhagen in 1962. Beginning in the 1960s, he developed a distinctive visual language that bridges abstraction and the observation of nature. Geological formations, vegetation, and landscape are not depicted directly but are translated into color, lines, and structures. In addition to painting, he created drawings as well as brick and bronze sculptures. In 1978, Kirkeby became a professor at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts; in 1989, he moved to the Städelschule in Frankfurt. His participation in the Venice Biennale as well as in documenta 7 and IX underscores his international significance. The large-format work “Untitled” from 1977 is one of Kirkeby’s signature pieces on hardboard. He has repeatedly used the square format of 122 × 122 centimeters for this group of works since the 1960s. Against a deep black background, a network of green and light-colored chalk lines unfolds. They run in broad arcs across the surface, intersecting and converging at the center before dispersing again elsewhere. Light-colored traces and fragments add further accents. Figurative forms appear in places but defy unambiguous interpretation. Drawing and painting, spontaneous gesture, and pictorial order intertwine. The work was created during an important transitional phase in which Kirkeby developed a free, expressive visual language. Nature appears not as a landscape motif but as a fabric of lines, forces, and structures—a principle that would shape his subsequent work. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: This lot is not suitable for parcel shipping. Transport is available only through a shipping company following consultation after the auction. Additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: max. 41.65 euros For a total invoice amount exceeding 25,000 Euros: 1.8 per thousand Shipping to the U.S. by individual arrangement after the auction. #Per Kirkeby #Abstraction #Denmark #Post-War Art #1970s #Post War. In accordance with §26 UrhG (German Copyright Act), VAN HAM is obligated to pay a statutory resale royalty on the sale proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography whose authors have not been deceased for 70 years prior to the end of the calendar year of the sale. The buyer shall contribute 1.5% of the hammer price toward this fee.