Klaus Fußmann (*1938), Gladioli, 1983

Klaus Fußmann (*1938 Velbert), Gladiolen, 1983. Color etching, WVZ 116.5, 14.5 cm x 18.5 cm (depiction), 20 cm x 21 cm (sheet size), signed “Fuß[mann]” in pencil lower right and inscribed “E.A. [Epreuve d'artiste]” lower left. One of ten copies.
- Crease to the lower left corner of the sheet margin, otherwise in excellent condition


- Thefigurativeness of abstraction -


Thisintensely colored etching is a rare piece from the beginning of Fußmann'sseries of flower etchings. This sheet is a variant of Gladioli from 1983, ofwhich only ten copies were produced. In this variant, the black plate, whichgives the flower an additional structure, was omitted. However, the flower isnot incomplete without it; rather, the artist has made it much more than acolor abstraction that shines on its own. Thus, Fußmann created a piececharacteristic of his artistic thinking — both abstract and figurative — whichdisplays intense pictorial tension due to this ambivalence.  



About the artist


From 1957to 1961, he attended the Folkwang School in Essen. Then, from 1962 to 1966, hestudied under Helmut Lotz at the Berlin University of the Arts. In 1972, heparticipated in Werner Haftmann's contemporary art exhibition at the NeueNationalgalerie Berlin, which brought him international recognition. From 1974to 2005, he was a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts. His studentsincluded Yadegar Asisi, Ilja Heinig, Till Warwas, Christopher Lehmpfuhl, andGünther Reger. Fußmann increasingly focused on painting flowers and landscapes,reviving artistic genres that had been neglected in postwar art in the FederalRepublic. In doing so, he made a significant contribution to the revitalizationof painting.During hismany study trips to India, Australia, New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands, andGermany, he found constant artistic inspiration.As a critic and theorist, Fußmann wrote several works onart: Die verschwundene Malerei (1984), Essays zur zeitgenössischen Kunst(1985), and Die Schuld der Moderne. Essays on Postmodernism (1991), and Wahnder Malerei (2005).