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Lot Essay
Painted in 1998, Kunstflug, perfectly captures the dreamlike atmosphere that makes Rauch's surrealistic visions so engaging and which have resulted in his paintings becoming so influential to a host of contemporary artists, especially those associated with the New Leipzig School of which he was the figurehead. With its mortar and brick framework running the edges of the foreground and the candy-coloured enfilade of wingless war planes in the background, Kunstflug represents one of Rauch's most direct musings on the fall of the Berlin Wall. The keyhole presentation and balloon arrangement of the war planes seem to capture that moment that one pulls back the flap of a circus tent to see the wonders inside. In this case, the acrobatics is more of the war machine variety and as one of the major underlying theme in his works, it highlights the tense relationship we have between autonomy and authority and the dream state versus reality. The elements within this composition bring into play many of the artist's most constant themes, emphasising the degree to which his pictures are atmospheric, yet also tackle a host of subjects ranging from politics and art to existentialism and the world of dreams. This image shows a landscape that appears to be from an industrial utopia, the kind of promised land that featured in the propaganda of the Socialist government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in which Rauch lived until its Reunification. The crisp buildings form a stark contrast to the grimmer reality of the industrial hinterland in which Rauch has his own studio near Leipzig. This picture has been painted in tones that deliberately evoke faded adverts or Agit Prop posters, lending it a deliberately faux-vintage feel that is echoed in the architecture of the factory buildings. Meanwhile, the aircraft, which have cabins that recall jet planes yet which overall resemble some form of tapered Zeppelin are each essentially monochrome. This Kunstflug - the word means 'aerobatics' - hints at the artist's own arsenal, these airships recalling the various colours of his palette.
Playing with Carl von Clausewitz' description of war as the extension of politics, Rauch explained that, 'For me, painting means the continuation of a dream with other means' (Rauch, quoted in Neo Rauch: Neue Rollen: Paintings 1993-2006, exh. cat., Wolfsburg, 2006, p. 62). His pictures evolve almost organically according to suggestions and associations, inspired by dreams, compositions, memories and ideas. The imaginary aspect of his pictures is evident here in the various craft, hanging together like a cluster of organised multi-coloured sperms with a kink in their tails, and in the bubbles that hang around several of them, as though they were some form of excerpt. These picture-bubbles deliberately introduce the notion that this image is a construct, and as such that Kunstflug is a painting about painting, and indeed about seeing. There is an enigmatic quality to the view here, and it is emphasised by the contrast between the crisp architecture of the background and the shattered wall through which we see the scene unfold. Rauch is playing with the various removes, the suspension of disbelief involved in the act of looking at art, and is thus bringing our attention to the idea of representation. He demands that we pay attention to the fact that this image is a construct, yet in so doing also challenges us to look at it afresh, to examine it both as a combination of colours and forms on a canvas and as an ineffable yet engaging image that evokes rather than declares some sense of meaning. As Rauch himself has explained, 'despite all the desire for interpretation, painting should retain the privilege of placing the what cannot be verbalised into an obvious structure. I make no secret of the fact that I prefer those observers who regard my painting primarily as art, and who only seek a narrative in them subconsciously, or if they feel they really must. After all, I am no different when I stand before a Tintoretto or a Beckmann' (Rauch, quoted in 'Interview', pp. 78-79, Neo Rauch: para, exh. cat., New York, 2007, p. 79).
Playing with Carl von Clausewitz' description of war as the extension of politics, Rauch explained that, 'For me, painting means the continuation of a dream with other means' (Rauch, quoted in Neo Rauch: Neue Rollen: Paintings 1993-2006, exh. cat., Wolfsburg, 2006, p. 62). His pictures evolve almost organically according to suggestions and associations, inspired by dreams, compositions, memories and ideas. The imaginary aspect of his pictures is evident here in the various craft, hanging together like a cluster of organised multi-coloured sperms with a kink in their tails, and in the bubbles that hang around several of them, as though they were some form of excerpt. These picture-bubbles deliberately introduce the notion that this image is a construct, and as such that Kunstflug is a painting about painting, and indeed about seeing. There is an enigmatic quality to the view here, and it is emphasised by the contrast between the crisp architecture of the background and the shattered wall through which we see the scene unfold. Rauch is playing with the various removes, the suspension of disbelief involved in the act of looking at art, and is thus bringing our attention to the idea of representation. He demands that we pay attention to the fact that this image is a construct, yet in so doing also challenges us to look at it afresh, to examine it both as a combination of colours and forms on a canvas and as an ineffable yet engaging image that evokes rather than declares some sense of meaning. As Rauch himself has explained, 'despite all the desire for interpretation, painting should retain the privilege of placing the what cannot be verbalised into an obvious structure. I make no secret of the fact that I prefer those observers who regard my painting primarily as art, and who only seek a narrative in them subconsciously, or if they feel they really must. After all, I am no different when I stand before a Tintoretto or a Beckmann' (Rauch, quoted in 'Interview', pp. 78-79, Neo Rauch: para, exh. cat., New York, 2007, p. 79).