271
Markus Lüpertz
Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch), 1969.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 80,000 / $ 94,400 Sold:
€ 64,500 / $ 76,110 (incl. surcharge)
271
Markus Lüpertz
Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch), 1969.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 80,000 / $ 94,400 Sold:
€ 64,500 / $ 76,110 (incl. surcharge)
Markus Lüpertz
1941
Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch). 1969.
Oil on canvas.
Signed on the reverse of the canvas. 192 x 250 cm (75.5 x 98.4 in).
[MH].
• Made in 1969, this work is part of Lüpertz's “dithyrambic” phase, its monumental size adding to its striking presence.
• The clearly defined shapes and intense color fields create a bold visual impact.
• Works by the artist are held in major international collections, including the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Tate Gallery, London, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed orally by the Markus Lüpertz studio. We are grateful for the kind advice.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Lelong, Zürich/Paris (with the label on the reverse).
1941
Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch). 1969.
Oil on canvas.
Signed on the reverse of the canvas. 192 x 250 cm (75.5 x 98.4 in).
[MH].
• Made in 1969, this work is part of Lüpertz's “dithyrambic” phase, its monumental size adding to its striking presence.
• The clearly defined shapes and intense color fields create a bold visual impact.
• Works by the artist are held in major international collections, including the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Tate Gallery, London, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed orally by the Markus Lüpertz studio. We are grateful for the kind advice.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Lelong, Zürich/Paris (with the label on the reverse).
In the phase of Markus Lüpertz's artistic work known as his "dithyrambic" period, Lüpertz developed an unmistakable visual language characterized by often monumental formats, expressive colors, and a strong formal condensation. The term "dithyrambic" refers to the ancient, ecstatic poem of praise in honor of Dionysus and serves Lüpertz as a metaphor for artistic creation characterized by intensity, emotion, and deliberate exaggeration. This principle is also clearly evident in "Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch)" (Railroad Tracks Moth (Dithyrambic)): the work radiates an almost archaic energy that is expressed both in its compositional structure and in its colorfulness.
The monumental size of the painting reinforces its powerful presence and lends the depicted motif an almost physical dimension. Lüpertz's imagery moves in a field of tension between abstraction and figuration. The railroad tracks that give the painting its title do not appear as a realistic representation, but as a formal cipher, a rhythmically arranged structure reminiscent of industrial motifs, yet at the same time poetically exaggerated. This combination of the everyday and the symbolic is typical of Lüpertz's understanding of art, which deliberately dissolves the boundaries between content and form, between rationality and emotion.
The clearly defined forms and monochrome color fields create a strong visual expressiveness. The composition appears self-contained, yet at the same time filled with inner movement. The associations evoked by the title reinforce this impression. Color contrasts and surface rhythms create a visual tension that immediately draws the viewer into the pictorial action. Lüpertz's painterly gesture remains clearly visible—it conveys an energy that makes the creative process itself palpable.
Overall, "Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch)" exemplifies how Markus Lüpertz developed a new, independent visual language in the late 1960s. He sought a form of modern heroism in painting—an art that does not depict external reality, but celebrates the creative act itself. The work thus stands at a turning point in German postwar art and at the same time refers to Lüpertz's fundamental artistic concern: the revival of pathos and painterly grandeur in a time that demands new forms of expression. [MH]
The monumental size of the painting reinforces its powerful presence and lends the depicted motif an almost physical dimension. Lüpertz's imagery moves in a field of tension between abstraction and figuration. The railroad tracks that give the painting its title do not appear as a realistic representation, but as a formal cipher, a rhythmically arranged structure reminiscent of industrial motifs, yet at the same time poetically exaggerated. This combination of the everyday and the symbolic is typical of Lüpertz's understanding of art, which deliberately dissolves the boundaries between content and form, between rationality and emotion.
The clearly defined forms and monochrome color fields create a strong visual expressiveness. The composition appears self-contained, yet at the same time filled with inner movement. The associations evoked by the title reinforce this impression. Color contrasts and surface rhythms create a visual tension that immediately draws the viewer into the pictorial action. Lüpertz's painterly gesture remains clearly visible—it conveys an energy that makes the creative process itself palpable.
Overall, "Eisenbahnschienen-Motte (Dithyrambisch)" exemplifies how Markus Lüpertz developed a new, independent visual language in the late 1960s. He sought a form of modern heroism in painting—an art that does not depict external reality, but celebrates the creative act itself. The work thus stands at a turning point in German postwar art and at the same time refers to Lüpertz's fundamental artistic concern: the revival of pathos and painterly grandeur in a time that demands new forms of expression. [MH]
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