Markus Lüpertz’s appreciation for classicism and his persistent interest in the intersection of abstraction and figuration are the core concerns of the presented paintings (Gelber Held on the first floor and Die Toilette on the second floor). The artist borrows the classical vision of Arcadia as the setting for the paintings, the content of which reflect his fascination with sagas and figures of Greek mythology. Lüpertz chooses to disrupt the classical depiction of mythological scenes by fragmenting figures and integrating contradictory elements into the iconography with, like animal skulls, recurring motifs out of the artist´s longstanding oeuvre. The eye-catching frames come from the artist himself. "The picture and the frame are a symbiosis." (Lüpertz)

* Markus Lüpertz is one of the most important Neo-expressionist artists known for his expressively rendered paintings and sculptures. Lüpertz often merges abstraction and representation whilst combining references to biblical, mythological theme as well as protagonists with his country’s history and culture.