Suchen I (Man Descending Stairway) (Seeking I ((Man Descending Stairway))

Painted in 1982, Man Descending Stairway exemplifies the complex world of symbols and systems that energised the art of A. R. Penck. In thick, brazen strokes, the German neo-Expressionist painted graphic icons and geometric patterns against an expanse of white. Like Chronophotography, an antique photographic technique which showed sequential movement within a single print, Man Descending Stairway, too, images motion as three of Penck’s signature stick-figures appear to be walking down the titular staircase. A fourth, the largest, stands in the right hand corner, raising his arm in salute. The painting’s title is a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912, an icon of Modernism which presented three-dimensional movement on canvas. Surrounding Penck’s stairs are daubs and dashes that remove any sense of depth; Man Descending Stairway is emblematic of the artist’s ‘Standart’ style, a term he coined to describe a pictorial aesthetic inspired by hieroglyphs and cave paintings. As Penck explained, ‘Every Standart can be imitated and reproduced and can thus become the property of every individual. What we have here is a true democratisation of art’ (A. R. Penck quoted in O. Basciano, ‘A. R. Penck Obituary’, The Guardian, May 5, 2017). Characterised by rudimentary imagery and simplified forms and figures, Penck’s reliance on ancient visual systems was an endeavour to communicate with all of humanity. The rhythmic composition of Man Descending Stairway was also inspired by the artist’s interest in jazz music, and Penck himself was drummer and played in the band Triple Trip Touch in the late 1980s. When asked by curator Klaus Ottmann in 1985 whether he saw a relationship between music and his paintings, Penck responded, ‘Yes, in the rhythm because I am very interested in rhythm’ (A. R. Penck, quoted in ‘Interviews: A. R. Penck’, in Journal of Contemporary Art, vol. 7, no. 1, Summer 1994, pp. 80-88). The recurring motifs of Man Descending Stairway visualise the musicality and improvised syncopation of jazz. The painting vibrates with an intensity of life.