Rainer Kriester:
Sculpture "Large Tattoo" (1982), reduction in light bronze
Rainer Kriester:
Sculpture "Large Tattoo" (1982), reduction in light bronze

Quick info

ars mundi Exclusive Edition | limited, 49 copies | numbered | signed | foundry hallmark | certificate | bronze | chased | polished | patinated | reduction | size 24.5 x 10 x 11.5 cm (h/w/d) | weight approx. 3.2 kg

incl. tax plus Shipping

Product no. IN-926973

Delivery time: Immediately deliverable

Sculpture "Large Tattoo" (1982), reduction in light bronze
Rainer Kriester: Sculpture "Large Tattoo" (1982), reducti...

Video

Detailed description

Sculpture "Large Tattoo" (1982), reduction in light bronze

Rainer Kriester (1935-2002) is one of the most important German sculptors of the late 20th century. He achieved his international breakthrough in the 1980s, creating numerous "head signs", some of them are monumental figures in bronze, wood and stone. They are not masks, but rather individual heads, engraved with the traces of life lived and experienced.

The artist's wish was to produce scaled-down versions of his large-scale works in bronze. As an ars mundi Exclusive Edition, we have now produced a numbered and signed special edition of 49 copies each in either dark or light patinated bronze.

Original: 1982, ash wood, 195 x 60 x 95 cm, WVZ 230, the private property of the Kriester family.
Fine bronze sculpture, cast using the Lost-Wax-Process, chiselled by hand, polished and lightly patinated. Moulded and reduced directly from the original. Limited edition of 49 copies, individually numbered, signed and hallmarked with the foundry stamp. With numbered certificate of authenticity and limitation. Size 24.5 x 10 x 11.5 cm (h/w/d). Weight approx. 3.2 kg. ars mundi Exclusive Edition.

The artist Rainer Kriester in action

About Rainer Kriester

1935-2002

"I am a realist by nature, but I do not work realistically. I am not an abstractionist, but I seek abstraction." This is how Rainer Kriester summarised his work.

Kriester is one of the most important German sculptors of the late 20th century.

Kriester, a medical student, fled from the GDR to West Berlin after being imprisoned for a year for "anti-government remarks". There he began to study painting at the Berlin Kunsthochschule in 1961. In 1970 he started working intensively as a sculptor.

In the 1980s, he achieved his international breakthrough, during which he moved his place of work gradually to the Ligurian town of Vendone. This is also where he created many of his "head signs". Some of them are monumental figures made of bronze, wood, and stone. They are not masks, but highly individual heads, engraved with the traces of life lived and experienced.

Wieland Schmied, art historian and long-time president of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, describes his sculptures as "still vibrating with exciting life under their skin".

The most prominent version is the 1.50 m high "White Head Sign" from 1984-1987. Along with works by Chillida and Lüpertz, it belongs to the important sculpture collection of the Federal Chancellery.

Recommendations