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210610: Alte Pinakothek Arnulf Rainer – The Overpainter
Alte Pinakothek
Arnulf Rainer – The Overpainter
10.06.10 – 05.09.10
“Rubens’ wife simply winked at me”
“Once a week I have to be alone, I lock myself up, walk around my studio and clean the floor, and then, slowly, an idea for the next brushstroke emerges. And then I paint for the rest of the day, as long as I can. Nobody is allowed to disturb me and I all I have is Green Tea”. Rarely has Arnulf Rainer spoken so openly about his work, seemed so focused on his motives and his path, as if he were looking back at what was really important to him: his first overpaintings, the series of “Face Farces”, the death masks, the crosses. His first overpaintings were created in 1953, but mainly because Arnulf Rainer didn’t have enough money to buy canvases and therefore bought paintings at flea markets and painted over them. He has stuck to this principle from that day to this - as his recent works presented at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich prove. He overpainted works by Boucher, Giorgione, Rubens and Velàsquez. No, he was not aware of having invented a unique aesthetic principle back in the 1950’s. “I didn’t even notice what I had done – it was the others, the critics, who coined the expression “overpainting”. I was relatively naïve and thought this is not a category, but only a superficial technological process born out of a lack of money. But then I became increasingly choosy regarding the motives.” One could also see overpainting as a comparison to other artistic abilities. A competition to see if one withstands the other, and vice versa. “No”, I never had the feeling that I surpass the other”, for example Rubens, “ The Honeysuckle Bower”, a self-portrait with his first wife, Isabella Brant, that is something I cannot surpass. All I can do is shift, transform or add a different expression to the painting.” This sounds modest and not at all like Rainer. Nevertheless, even his most recent paintings have their own strength. Their colours are extraordinary. In his most recent paintings, all based on old masters from the Alte Pinakothek, he is not concerned with his relationship to certain artists, but only with the faces, which show up in their works. “Isabella Brant simply winked her eye at me. And then I thought she wants to be depicted in the Rainer-style.”
The selection of paintings presented at the Alte Pinakothek is outstanding, with a major part of the works originating from the artist’s own collection. The 80-year old is not easily embarrassed, unless he is asked to talk about religiosity, which he sensed in works by Giotto or Cimabue. Change of topic: what does he think about the recent discussion on brain doping or neuro-enhancement, especially as someone who experimented with LSD under medical supervision? Should one provide medicine to healthy people to increase their performance, maximize their creativity or enhance their personality? “Only if a physician is around. Regarding my LSD experience: the Max Plank Institute conducted a test series in the 1960’s. The doctors wanted to research what effect LSD had on artists and their work. But I must admit that I was not able to work with this drug. Maybe my fantasy and my creativity were enhanced, but it wasn’t necessary.” More important for his work are enough space, skylight, and his “colour trolley”. He pulls it through his studio in Enzenkirchen while he continues to overpaint women’s faces, some of them are movie stars, but some are unknown women. Supposedly all of them winked their eye at him.
By Astrid Mayerle
Alte Pinakothek
80333 Munich, Barer Strasse 27
Tel: +49 (0)89 23805 216
Email: presse@pinakothek.de
http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek
Opening hours: Tue: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wed. – Sun: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. , closed on Mondays
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
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210610
Alte Pinakothek
80333 München, Barer Straße 27
Tel: +49 (0)89 23805 216
Email: presse@pinakothek.de
http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek/
Öffnungszeiten: Di. von 10 bis 20 Uhr, Mi. bis So. von 10 bis 18 Uhr. Mo. geschlossen
Alte Pinakothek
80333 München, Barer Straße 27
Tel: +49 (0)89 23805 216
Email: presse@pinakothek.de
http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek/
Öffnungszeiten: Di. von 10 bis 20 Uhr, Mi. bis So. von 10 bis 18 Uhr. Mo. geschlossen
