Imi Knoebel ”Alte Liebe (F-1, F-2, F-3)”. 2009

3-part: acrylic on aluminium. Each 90,5 × 92 × 12 cm (35 ⅝ × 36 ¼ × 4 ¾ in.). Each signed and dated in white paintbrush on the reverse: imi 2009. Each also bears a label with the printed work details. [3011] We would like to thank Christian Lethert, Cologne, for kindly providing additional information.. 3-part: acrylic on aluminium. Each 90,5 × 92 × 12 cm (35 ⅝ × 36 ¼ × 4 ¾ in.). Each signed and dated in white paintbrush on the reverse: imi 2009. Each also bears a label with the printed work details. [3011], We would like to thank Christian Lethert, Cologne, for kindly providing additional information.. Private collection, Berlin (acquired from Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin, in 2010), Private collection, Berlin (acquired from Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin, in 2010), The title of Imi Knoebel’s triptych, “Alte Liebe” (Old Love), can be linked to a central idea in his artistic thinking: “In my work, I keep returning to the beginnings and bringing everything together” (in: Imi Knoebel. Werke von 1966–2006, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, 2007). Indeed, Knoebel repeatedly returns to fundamental questions of form, colour and composition, exploring the possibilities offered by different materials, surfaces and textures. His series demonstrate that, for him, there are no definitive solutions. Instead, familiar elements reappear in ever-changing constellations. In clearly defined, precisely composed works, Knoebel allows the material itself, here the aluminium profiles, to speak alongside the colour. His paintings, planar sculptures and installations possess a distinct presence and engage in an open dialogue with their surroundings. In doing so, he explores the relationships between materiality and space, two and three dimensions, and constructed and accidental arrangements. The result is a wide variety of material assemblages and works in an array of formats, ranging in colour from monochromatic surfaces to polychromatic compositions. The present triptych is an exemplary demonstration of this approach. Starting with the square and its framing in aluminium profiles, Knoebel explores the possibilities of colour while preserving its intrinsic value. Colour asserts itself as an independent element, free from representational meaning. At the same time, the three square forms recall Knoebel’s radically reduced abstract works of the 1990s. The square serves as the point of departure for an ever-evolving series of variations on abstract forms. Born in 1940, Imi Knoebel is one of the leading representatives of radically non-representational painting and German Minimal Art, with a career spanning more than five decades. His work centres on the relationships between space, form and colour, shaped by his early engagement with Malevich. From 1964 to 1971, Knoebel studied under Joseph Beuys at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Beuys’s conviction that painting as a traditional genre had become obsolete provided an important starting point for Knoebel’s own artistic position, although he soon moved away from his teacher’s ideas. Instead, he understands painting as the sum of all artistic disciplines. For this reason, he consistently describes himself as a painter, despite rarely using canvas and brush. He also repeatedly revisits earlier works, supplementing and extending them or reinterpreting them, as he does here. MvL

Estimation:€150,000

Voir tous les objets deGrisebachouArts Graphiques