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Lot Essay
Although Neo Rauch’s painting style can be categorized as figurative, his output surpasses usual expectations of the genre. Rauch depicts a more extensive world, in which he roams freely across time and space. Using whatever images or items are inspiring or galvanizing, he orchestrates a figurative but non-realistic painting. The experience of viewing his paintings is a mixture of a desire to figure out the story that the painting seems to narrate and, at the same time, a visceral engagement arising from the unconscious. This is because, although Rauch draws from the reservoir of personal recollections and feelings, these images also belong to a collective milieu, described by the artist as “pictures from our collective archive” (N. Rauch, quoted in Neo Rauch, exh. cat., Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, 2002, p. 6).
From 1993 onward, Rauch’s painting has developed in a distinguishable way, from monochrome to polychrome, and from a flat graphic style to the vivid realization of space. Art historian Heinrich Wölfflin described Rauch’s changing path from the linear to the painterly as being similar to the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. These three works Sonne I, Sonne II, and Sonne III, executed in 1993, show every key feature of Rauch’s early style. In Sonne I, five quasi-quadrilateral color patches in sienna are placed in the center and four corners, occupying about half of the surface area of the wheat color primer. At the center, a dog-like figure is painted in black, and in the lower left quadrant, a profile view male figure and a machine like object are depicted. The color scheme remains consistent in the Sonne II and Sonne III, the abstract patches are in sienna, and the figures are illustrated in black, on the wheat color primer. But the abstract color patches become morphogenetic, appear more random on the Sonne II and Sonne III. A female figure is painted on the right upper quadrant of Sonne II. Sonne III merges interior setting into the abstract shapes. The coexistence of the exquisitely delineated figures and morphogenetic abstract patterns does not seem to be inconsonant. They construct a dreamy space where imagination is set free. The dynamism brought by chaotic abstract shapes is balanced by the august nature of the figures. The female figure is painted with the head in a profile view and the body in a frontal view, which is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian wall paintings. This gives the paintings a ritualistic and mysterious sense. Like symbolic Renaissance paintings, Rauch’s works also contain iconographic signifiers, which intrigue viewers into deciphering them. Rauch’s early work often contains handwritten words. We can find characters written under the female figure. The handwritten words are associated with the then-popular philosophy Structuralism, which asserts that language is a cultural sign.
Born in 1960 in Leipzig, East Germany, Rauch studied under the Leipzig School’s founding member, Arno Rink, until 1986, and under Bernhard Heisig until 1990. Both helped him develop his virtuoso dexterity and a completely new type of figurative painting. Rauch describes his early fascination with the Leipzig School’s “rich details, workman-like solidity, and often bizarre pleasure in storytelling” (N. Rauch, quoted in Neo Rollen: Paintings 1993-2006, ext. cat., Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 2007, p. 8). His final year of formal education coincided with the historical moment of German reunification. During this turmoil, Rauch experimented with different painting styles, from Abstract to American Pop Art. In 1993, his “first valid paintings,” as he calls them, initially appeared in the public spotlight.
Neo Rauch uses his paintings as a stage and orchestrates scenes disclosing the deep meanings and feeling of human life. If the highly successful current career of the genius painter is as splendid as the Baroque, his beginning style is indeed like the Renaissance, not extravagant at first sight, but containing all discernible links leading to the later splendor. The Sonne (I.II.III), a representative early work , gives us a chance to follow the artist’s path.
From 1993 onward, Rauch’s painting has developed in a distinguishable way, from monochrome to polychrome, and from a flat graphic style to the vivid realization of space. Art historian Heinrich Wölfflin described Rauch’s changing path from the linear to the painterly as being similar to the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. These three works Sonne I, Sonne II, and Sonne III, executed in 1993, show every key feature of Rauch’s early style. In Sonne I, five quasi-quadrilateral color patches in sienna are placed in the center and four corners, occupying about half of the surface area of the wheat color primer. At the center, a dog-like figure is painted in black, and in the lower left quadrant, a profile view male figure and a machine like object are depicted. The color scheme remains consistent in the Sonne II and Sonne III, the abstract patches are in sienna, and the figures are illustrated in black, on the wheat color primer. But the abstract color patches become morphogenetic, appear more random on the Sonne II and Sonne III. A female figure is painted on the right upper quadrant of Sonne II. Sonne III merges interior setting into the abstract shapes. The coexistence of the exquisitely delineated figures and morphogenetic abstract patterns does not seem to be inconsonant. They construct a dreamy space where imagination is set free. The dynamism brought by chaotic abstract shapes is balanced by the august nature of the figures. The female figure is painted with the head in a profile view and the body in a frontal view, which is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian wall paintings. This gives the paintings a ritualistic and mysterious sense. Like symbolic Renaissance paintings, Rauch’s works also contain iconographic signifiers, which intrigue viewers into deciphering them. Rauch’s early work often contains handwritten words. We can find characters written under the female figure. The handwritten words are associated with the then-popular philosophy Structuralism, which asserts that language is a cultural sign.
Born in 1960 in Leipzig, East Germany, Rauch studied under the Leipzig School’s founding member, Arno Rink, until 1986, and under Bernhard Heisig until 1990. Both helped him develop his virtuoso dexterity and a completely new type of figurative painting. Rauch describes his early fascination with the Leipzig School’s “rich details, workman-like solidity, and often bizarre pleasure in storytelling” (N. Rauch, quoted in Neo Rollen: Paintings 1993-2006, ext. cat., Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 2007, p. 8). His final year of formal education coincided with the historical moment of German reunification. During this turmoil, Rauch experimented with different painting styles, from Abstract to American Pop Art. In 1993, his “first valid paintings,” as he calls them, initially appeared in the public spotlight.
Neo Rauch uses his paintings as a stage and orchestrates scenes disclosing the deep meanings and feeling of human life. If the highly successful current career of the genius painter is as splendid as the Baroque, his beginning style is indeed like the Renaissance, not extravagant at first sight, but containing all discernible links leading to the later splendor. The Sonne (I.II.III), a representative early work , gives us a chance to follow the artist’s path.