Lot 34
Frame image
34
Albert Oehlen
Disco, 1985.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 200,000 / $ 236,000 Sold:
€ 254,000 / $ 299,720 (incl. surcharge)
Disco. 1985.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Titled on the reverse of the stretcher. 210 x 160 cm (82.6 x 62.9 in). [CH].
• Formerly part of the Günther Förg Collection.
• Bad Boy: Together with Martin Kippenberger, Albert Oehlen shaped the art of an entire generation with his rebellious, provocative works.
• Oehlen's works from this period are among his most celebrated and sought-after pieces on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• “Disco” combines the artist's two great passions: painting and electronic music.
• “dansen, grinsen, bumsen” (dance, grin, bang) is a bold and blunt expression of the nonconformist attitude of the punk and art scene at the time.
• Albert Oehlen's paintings are part of the world's most prestigious museum collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Tate Gallery, London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt a. Main.
Günther Förg Collection (1952-2013), Switzerland.
EXHIBITION: Hoeveel schoonheid kunnen wij verdragen, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Sept.-June 1985.
LITERATURE: Albert Oehlen, Alles für mich, für Euch das NACHSEHEN, in: Exhibition catalog Le radius Kronenbourg. Werner Büttner, Martin Kippenberger, Albert Oehlen, Markus Oehlen, Villa Arson, Centre national d'art contemporain, Nice 1987, pp. 66f. and pp. 74f., pp. 9-11, p. 77 (illustrated in black and white).
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Titled on the reverse of the stretcher. 210 x 160 cm (82.6 x 62.9 in). [CH].
• Formerly part of the Günther Förg Collection.
• Bad Boy: Together with Martin Kippenberger, Albert Oehlen shaped the art of an entire generation with his rebellious, provocative works.
• Oehlen's works from this period are among his most celebrated and sought-after pieces on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• “Disco” combines the artist's two great passions: painting and electronic music.
• “dansen, grinsen, bumsen” (dance, grin, bang) is a bold and blunt expression of the nonconformist attitude of the punk and art scene at the time.
• Albert Oehlen's paintings are part of the world's most prestigious museum collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Tate Gallery, London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt a. Main.
Günther Förg Collection (1952-2013), Switzerland.
EXHIBITION: Hoeveel schoonheid kunnen wij verdragen, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Sept.-June 1985.
LITERATURE: Albert Oehlen, Alles für mich, für Euch das NACHSEHEN, in: Exhibition catalog Le radius Kronenbourg. Werner Büttner, Martin Kippenberger, Albert Oehlen, Markus Oehlen, Villa Arson, Centre national d'art contemporain, Nice 1987, pp. 66f. and pp. 74f., pp. 9-11, p. 77 (illustrated in black and white).
During his studies under Sigmar Polke at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg (1978–1981), Albert Oehlen actively participated in artistic and political debates. At a time when the 'decline of painting' was widely prophesied, a group of young artists moved in the opposite direction: the 'Neue Wilde' (New Wild Ones) in Berlin and Cologne threw themselves wholeheartedly into this traditional medium and, with great enthusiasm and inventive energy, found completely new means of expression and a visual language that would ultimately define their generation. In music, punk and new wave rocked the scene in the early 1980s, while art, especially painting, was all about “new German art.” Anything seemed possible, with a wild spirit of rebellion. Whether narrative or less so, artists tackled bold topics that were met with both big cheers and boos. In 1984, Oehlen created his famous “Selbstportrait mit verschissener Unterhose und Blauer Mauritius” (Self-Portrait with Shitty Underpants and Blue Mauritius)or the work "Als Gott den Rock erschuf, muß er geil gewesen sein (Rockmusik) (When God created rock, he must have been horny (rock music), marking the beginning of his “Kultur-Wort-Mal-Foto-Collage” (culture-word-painting-photo collage), an approach characterized by seemingly random elements, which can also be found in the work offered here. Here, the artist confronts the words “dance, grin, fuck” with towering architectural structures that open up a multitude of associations and could just as easily represent two wine glasses turned upside down.
Together with Martin Kippenberger, Werner Büttner, and others, years of joint development and painterly rebellion against the art establishment followed, which nonetheless found its way into museum institutions. In 1984, the Museum Folkwang in Essen presented the exhibition “Wahrheit ist Arbeit” (Truth is Work), curated by Zdenek Felix, featuring works by Albert Oehlen, Werner Büttner, and Martin Kippenberger. In 1989, the artist participated in the comprehensive exhibition “Neue Figuration. Deutsche Malerei 1960-1988” (New Figuration. German Painting 1960-1988) at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main.
In recent years, Oehlen's work has been honored in numerous major solo exhibitions, for example, at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (2024/25) and the Espace Louis Vuitton in Beijing (2024). [CH]
Martin Kippenberger and Albert Oehlen, Hamburg, 1985 (detail). © Ursula Böckler
Together with Martin Kippenberger, Werner Büttner, and others, years of joint development and painterly rebellion against the art establishment followed, which nonetheless found its way into museum institutions. In 1984, the Museum Folkwang in Essen presented the exhibition “Wahrheit ist Arbeit” (Truth is Work), curated by Zdenek Felix, featuring works by Albert Oehlen, Werner Büttner, and Martin Kippenberger. In 1989, the artist participated in the comprehensive exhibition “Neue Figuration. Deutsche Malerei 1960-1988” (New Figuration. German Painting 1960-1988) at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main.
In recent years, Oehlen's work has been honored in numerous major solo exhibitions, for example, at the Hamburger Kunsthalle (2024/25) and the Espace Louis Vuitton in Beijing (2024). [CH]
34
Albert Oehlen
Disco, 1985.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 200,000 / $ 236,000 Sold:
€ 254,000 / $ 299,720 (incl. surcharge)
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