Untitled (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner)

2010

Oil on canvas

335.3 x 231.1 cm (132 x 91 in.)

At first glance, this two-by-three metre work seems to be an old black and white photograph of a blurry-faced soldier in uniform in his room; it is actually an oil painting in varying shades of grey.

The artist in a military uniform is a common theme in Rudolf Stingel’s work. Examples include his portraits of Franz West and Sol LeWitt as well as his self-portrait, Untitled (Alpino 1976). These paintings based on archival photographs are works of photorealism. By depicting Ludwig Kirchner from a 1915 photograph, Stingel starts a subtle historical dialogue. One of the German Expressionist painter’s best-known paintings is his Self-Portrait as a Soldier, created in the same year as the photograph.

Stingel's Untitled (Ludwig Ernst Kirchner) was first exhibited by the Pinault Collection at the 2014 "Art Lovers" show at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.
Exhibitions