3472 - RAINER FETTING

RAINER FETTING (Wilhelmshaven 1949–lives and works, among other places, in Berlin) Rumpelstilzchen. 1990. Oil, sand, and pine cones on canvas. In three parts. First part, on the reverse: numbered, inscribed, titled, signed, dated, and inscribed with medium: 290/450 B 199 1 Teil Rumpelstilzchen Fetting Jan 90 Öl / Sand Tannenzapfen. Second part, inscribed on the reverse: B 199 2 Teil. Third part, inscribed on the reverse: B 199 3 Teil. 290 × 450 cm, each 290 × 150 cm. Provenance: - Galerie Raab, Berlin. - Lichtenstein Collection, acquired from the above gallery in 1990. - Swiss collection. Exhibited: Berlin/Weimar 1990, Rainer Fetting. Berlin/New York. Paintings and Sculptures, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, GDR, Nationalgalerie, March 17–April 15, 1990 / Stadtmuseum Weimar, Kabinett am Goetheplatz, July 14–August 23, 1990, cat. p. 62, no. 30. Rainer Fetting’s work is closely connected to the social and historical upheavals of his time. His painting, however, goes beyond the depiction of actual events, opening up a layered dialogue between history, the present, and cultural memory. In “Rumpelstilzchen,” Fetting combines contemporary imagery—such as people chipping away at the Berlin Wall—with a character from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Both suggest different ways of confronting the past, linking historical events to a literary tradition. The “Mauerspechte,” or “wall peckers,” who chipped pieces off the Berlin Wall following its fall in 1989, symbolize the end of Germany’s division and the beginning of a new historical reality. The Wall was far more than a physical barrier: it embodied Germany’s political and ideological division and shaped the lives of generations. Its opening and demolition marked a profound transformation. In art, this historical event becomes an image of transience, liberation, and new beginnings. “Rumpelstilzchen” introduces another dimension. The Brothers Grimm fairy tale is deeply rooted in German cultural history, evoking a world that is at once familiar and mysterious. At its heart is a figure whose power depends on a secret and can be broken only by discovering his name. Deception, revelation, and escape from a seemingly hopeless situation shape the narrative. Just as the fairy tale takes an unexpected turn, the fall of the Berlin Wall transformed a political order that had endured for decades. The Wall and the fairy tale form an unexpected connection. Fetting links a moment of upheaval to a figure whose power depends on a name. “Rumpelstilzchen” thus becomes a metaphor for the significance of boundaries—and for the moment when they fall.