馬丁‧基本伯格

Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Angelika Taschen, Ed., Kippenberger, Cologne 2003, p. 177, illustrated in colour
Exhibition Catalogue, Los Angeles, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective, 2008-09, p. 352, illustrated in colour

 

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the red tones are slightly lighter in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. No restoration is apparent under ultraviolet light.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1993, the same year that Martin Kippenberger founded his ironical ‘Museum of Modern Art’ at Syros in Greece, Kasperle XIII (Portrait of Rainald Goetz) is a truly masterful portrait which magnificently projects an idea of the complex personality and persona of its subject. Born in 1954 in Munich, Rainald Goetz made his mark as the enfant-terrible of the literary scene when, following the publication of his first work, Subito, in 1983, he legendarily incised his forehead with a razor blade during a live reading in front of a studio audience. Capitalising on his early notoriety, Goetz preceded to build on his reputation by producing a succession of novels, essays and plays, the most recent of which was published to critical acclaim in 2012. Goetz revealed an interest in the international art scene when he published a play entitled Jeff Koons in 1998, which, rather than a regular re-telling of the artist’s life, focused on Koons’ influence and impact on the surrounding world through an unconventional, highly original, prose style. Kippenberger arguably identified with the anti-establishment nature of Goetz’s work, creating a portrait that gleefully celebrates the more eccentric elements of the writer’s life and career.

Goetz occupies the centre of the composition to the exclusion of all other traditional portrait ephemera; devoid of the conventional support of a chair or table, the subject appears to hover miraculously in mid-air against a vibrant blue eight-pointed star. Kippenberger mischievously casts Goetz in the guise of Kasperle, a puppet figure popular as a children’s entertainment within Germany and Austria since the Seventeenth Century: in his jester’s hat and bright red trousers Goetz is imbued with a sense of the marvellous and fantastical. As with Kasperle’s counterpart, Punch from Punch and Judy, there was originally an element of aggression and violence inherent within these performances due to the brandishing of a truncheon as a deterrent; in Kippenberger’s incarnation of the puppet figure, Goetz wields the suggestion of a ‘weapon’ in his hand as though attacking social and cultural conventions. Kippenberger’s decision to portray Goetz in the role of ‘entertainer’ alludes to the latter’s successful career as a playwright and author of national renown. Ultimately Kasperle XIII (Portrait of Rainald Goetz) is a truly superb portrait: the work of an artist at the pinnacle of his creative powers.

Kippenberger produced work of astonishing variety throughout his career, utilising the potential of an incredibly diverse range of media including sculpture, installation, photography and painting to forge an utterly unique creative language. Kippenberger’s portraits occupy a place of major importance within his oeuvre, and Kasperle XIII (Portrait of Rainald Goetz) brilliantly encapsulates the intelligent humour and acerbically satirical wit that is such a distinctive feature of the artist’s oeuvre. Kippenberger outlined the importance of humour within his work in an interview towards the end of his career: “You can only work in a way that is morally right for you. Of course you add little jokes, which may bewilder people at first, but the piece is about self-recognition for them, not for me… Pictures have to talk for themselves” (the artist, cited in an interview with Daniel Baumann in: Exhibition Catalogue, London, Tate Modern, Martin Kippenberger, 2006, p. 62).