Charcoal on transparent paper. Signed in the lower right. Dated, titled and inscribed on the reverse. 151 x 102 cm. . The work served as a preparatory drawing for the painting "Lamento" (1986) of the same format, which we sold successfully in our Evening Sale in December 2023. [JS]. - Preliminary drawing in the same format for Klapheck's painting "Lamento" (1986): a modern trompe-l'œil and at the same time a masterpiece full of existential questions. - Rich in detail and executed with a painterly approach, this drawing was made in preparation for the painting in the same format "Lamento" (1986) (auctioned by Ketterer Kunst in December 2023). - In his large-scale "preparatory drawings," Klapheck developed his consummate compositions in their original size from a complex structure of lines before transferring them to the canvas. - While Klapheck's paintings fascinate with their utmost perfection, Klapheck's preparatory drawings" are unique testimonies to a meticulous and complex creative process.
The Way You Read a Book is Different to How I Tell You a Story, Jahn und Jahn , Munich 2018. The Real: Three Propositions, White Cube, London 2019. salondergegenwart 2023, Hamburg, no place, 2023, p. 51 (illu.)
Jahn und Jahn, Munich. White Cube, London. Private collection, London. From a Swiss collection
"I try to give my pictures a smooth surface, and I want them to look as if they were not made by the hand of a human being. I coat my passions with ice to give them greater permanence." (K. Klapheck, quoted from Konrad Klapheck, ex. cat. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam 1974, p. 36.) Thus, it is solely the drawings by Klapheck that allow a glimpse of the spontaneity and immediacy of the quest toward the painterly realization of these human passions. Despite their high degree of graphic perfection, they are the only documents that still bear the artistic signature, which is entirely concealed in Klapheck's "super-representational" paintings. What makes Klapheck's work so fascinating is the unique objectivity of the depiction in combination with alienating elements and titles that often evoke associations with human emotions, causing the viewer's perception to oscillate between closeness and distance. Unlike Pop Art pieces, Klapheck's works are not reduced to their pure object nature, their industrial serial character; instead, Klapheck creates distinctive character objects that provoke a broad range of associations and emotions and thus become symbols of our human existence. Like an umbilical cord, the hose in Klapheck's “Lamento” winds its way through the boundaries of a fire extinguisher's box; made in the year of his mother's death, it becomes a modern symbol of our lives. [JS]
In very good condition. With finger marks and rubbing marks from the making, as well as with the erased contruction lines and the red horizontal and vertical lines typical of Klapheck's drawings. Minimally browned, somewhat more distinct in places of the edges. The upper right edge of the sheet with a small tear in the margin (approx. 2.5 cm), however, due to the large format this does not detract from the extremely fine overall impression.
Lot Details
Charcoal on transparent paper. Signed in the lower right. Dated, titled and inscribed on the reverse. 151 x 102 cm. . The work served as a preparatory drawing for the painting "Lamento" (1986) of the same format, which we sold successfully in our Evening Sale in December 2023. [JS]. - Preliminary drawing in the same format for Klapheck's painting "Lamento" (1986): a modern trompe-l'œil and at the same time a masterpiece full of existential questions. - Rich in detail and executed with a painterly approach, this drawing was made in preparation for the painting in the same format "Lamento" (1986) (auctioned by Ketterer Kunst in December 2023). - In his large-scale "preparatory drawings," Klapheck developed his consummate compositions in their original size from a complex structure of lines before transferring them to the canvas. - While Klapheck's paintings fascinate with their utmost perfection, Klapheck's preparatory drawings" are unique testimonies to a meticulous and complex creative process.
The Way You Read a Book is Different to How I Tell You a Story, Jahn und Jahn , Munich 2018. The Real: Three Propositions, White Cube, London 2019. salondergegenwart 2023, Hamburg, no place, 2023, p. 51 (illu.)
Jahn und Jahn, Munich. White Cube, London. Private collection, London. From a Swiss collection
"I try to give my pictures a smooth surface, and I want them to look as if they were not made by the hand of a human being. I coat my passions with ice to give them greater permanence." (K. Klapheck, quoted from Konrad Klapheck, ex. cat. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam 1974, p. 36.) Thus, it is solely the drawings by Klapheck that allow a glimpse of the spontaneity and immediacy of the quest toward the painterly realization of these human passions. Despite their high degree of graphic perfection, they are the only documents that still bear the artistic signature, which is entirely concealed in Klapheck's "super-representational" paintings. What makes Klapheck's work so fascinating is the unique objectivity of the depiction in combination with alienating elements and titles that often evoke associations with human emotions, causing the viewer's perception to oscillate between closeness and distance. Unlike Pop Art pieces, Klapheck's works are not reduced to their pure object nature, their industrial serial character; instead, Klapheck creates distinctive character objects that provoke a broad range of associations and emotions and thus become symbols of our human existence. Like an umbilical cord, the hose in Klapheck's “Lamento” winds its way through the boundaries of a fire extinguisher's box; made in the year of his mother's death, it becomes a modern symbol of our lives. [JS]
In very good condition. With finger marks and rubbing marks from the making, as well as with the erased contruction lines and the red horizontal and vertical lines typical of Klapheck's drawings. Minimally browned, somewhat more distinct in places of the edges. The upper right edge of the sheet with a small tear in the margin (approx. 2.5 cm), however, due to the large format this does not detract from the extremely fine overall impression.
Konrad Klapheck 
