An exquisite marriage of tonal alchemy and balletic movement, Sigmar Polke’s
Sigmar Polke's acrylic and ink on paper work showcases his masterful manipulation of tone and fluid materiality, as pools of ink bleed and drift across the surface in seemingly choreographed motion. His signature alchemy transforms humble materials into something luminous and unpredictable, with layers of transparent color shifting and dissolving into one another like a carefully orchestrated dance. The result is a work that feels simultaneously controlled and liberated, embodying Polke's lifelong fascination with the tension between artistic intention and the autonomous behavior of his chosen media.
- Medium
- acrylic and ink on paper
- Location
- Phillips, Salt Lake City, UT
- Spotted At
- Auction House · PhillipsView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
October 6, 2017
Spotted works by Sigmar Polke
Artists in conversation
Gerhard Richter
German · b. 1932
Richter shares Polke's German postmodern sensibility and creates works on paper where transparent layers of color bleed and dissolve into one another, producing similarly luminous tonal shifts and a tension between control and spontaneous materiality.
Wolfgang Tillmans
German · b. 1968
Tillmans employs experimental processes that allow materials to behave unpredictably across a surface, producing fluid abstract compositions with muted tonal palettes and a choreographed sense of movement that closely echoes Polke's alchemical approach to ink and acrylic.
Anselm Kiefer
German · b. 1945
Kiefer's neo expressionist works on paper share Polke's interest in transforming humble materials into something luminous and unpredictable, with layered transparent and muted tones that shift and dissolve across the surface in gestural, dynamically expressive compositions.
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