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Lot Essay
One of the trademark features of Polke's paintings since the 1960s is the artist's use of commercial, non-art fabrics instead of canvas. In these so-called "Stoffbilder" (Fabric Paintings), the artist renounces his total control over the formation of the image. He rejects the neutrality of the canvas for material that has been industrially produced for a completely different function, in the same way that his friend Blinky Palermo had also done. The fabric has its own identity in a way ordinary canvas does not and can thus be seen as a kind of Duchampian "Readymade". For 'Totenkopf (Quecksilberkosmetik)', Polke chose a gold coloured lurex as his canvas support, a shimmering fabric woven with metallic tinsel. Sean Rainbird writes: "The fabric he used suggested... that even the painter's support belonged as much in the everyday world as in the studio. The idea of a blank surfaces awaiting the autograph mark is made obsolete by the presence of pre-printed fabrics and finishes. Polke immediately establishes a relationship to something that existed before the picture, while simultaneously diverting that material from its intended function and transforming it into something unique" (S. Rainbird, 'Sigmar Polke: Join the Dots', Liverpool, 1995, pp.12-15).
'Totenkopf (Quecksilberkosmetik)' is one of Polke's most successful paintings in which he uses commercially produced fabrics instead of canvas. The cloth is employed as an integral part of the work; the surface itself, with its golden luminosity, recalls the gold leaf used for icons in earlier centuries. Like a Russian icon, the work induces an atmosphere of sacred awe, with the central image thrust forward in all its stark poignancy. At the same time, however, the image itself is anything but sacred. In fact, the artist is making a clear reference to the art historical motif of the 'Vanitas', also known as 'momento mori'. In traditional scenes of Vanitas, a nude woman reclines on a chaise longue and admires herself in a hand-held mirror. Here, the latin word 'Vanitas' refers to superficiality, emptiness and futility. Just as the woman's beauty will one day fade away, so too will all life end in death. Omnia Vanitas - all is futile.
For his own rendition of this timeless motif, Polke chose to appropriate an image from art history, a kind of puzzle picture that changes its meaning depending on the standpoint of the viewer. From a distance, the viewer is confronted by the oversized image of a skull, the most poignant and direct of all momento mori symbols. As he approaches the glittering painting, however, this dark, menacing skull slowly metamorphoses into the gentle, although vain image of a beautiful young woman attending to her daily toilete. The subtitle of the picture, "Quecksilberkosmetik" (Quicksilver Cosmetics), make the reference to the woman's activity and, since quicksilver, or mercury, is a highly poisonous substance, implies that her vanity may very well indeed be deadly.
'Totenkopf (Quecksilberkosmetik)' is one of Polke's most successful paintings in which he uses commercially produced fabrics instead of canvas. The cloth is employed as an integral part of the work; the surface itself, with its golden luminosity, recalls the gold leaf used for icons in earlier centuries. Like a Russian icon, the work induces an atmosphere of sacred awe, with the central image thrust forward in all its stark poignancy. At the same time, however, the image itself is anything but sacred. In fact, the artist is making a clear reference to the art historical motif of the 'Vanitas', also known as 'momento mori'. In traditional scenes of Vanitas, a nude woman reclines on a chaise longue and admires herself in a hand-held mirror. Here, the latin word 'Vanitas' refers to superficiality, emptiness and futility. Just as the woman's beauty will one day fade away, so too will all life end in death. Omnia Vanitas - all is futile.
For his own rendition of this timeless motif, Polke chose to appropriate an image from art history, a kind of puzzle picture that changes its meaning depending on the standpoint of the viewer. From a distance, the viewer is confronted by the oversized image of a skull, the most poignant and direct of all momento mori symbols. As he approaches the glittering painting, however, this dark, menacing skull slowly metamorphoses into the gentle, although vain image of a beautiful young woman attending to her daily toilete. The subtitle of the picture, "Quecksilberkosmetik" (Quicksilver Cosmetics), make the reference to the woman's activity and, since quicksilver, or mercury, is a highly poisonous substance, implies that her vanity may very well indeed be deadly.