Stephan Balkenhol Lot n° 1129

Stephan Balkenhol - 3 male nudes. 3 figure columns. Coihue southern beech, lightly colored. (1999). Each column approx. 162 x 24 x 33.5 cm (including base). Stephan Balkenhol is one of the most important representatives of contemporary sculpture in Germany. His unmistakable figures have found their way into numerous national and international museums and collections in recent decades and populate prominent places in public space, such as the sculpture "Sphaera" the Salzburg Kapitelplatz or the Richard Wagner Monument on a pedestal by Max Klinger in downtown Leipzig. Man is always at the center of the work; animals, mythical creatures and architectural fragments complement the œuvre. In three different poses, the artist presents a standing male nude in each of these works. The materiality and feel of the wood are the focus here and underscore the symbiosis of figure and pedestal: while the frame of the bodies is only delicately applied, the rectangular, roughly shod pedestals suggest imposing tree trunks from which the entire figure columns were carved. The nudes present themselves in seemingly everyday postures, but the direct confrontation of the figures with the viewer at eye level heightens their special presence in space. In his works, Balkenhol succeeds in combining the supposed incompatibility between centuries-old European carving art and contemporary art in an exciting canon of figures. Exhibition: Stephan Balkenhol, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento 1999, cat.-no. 68, with col. ill. Fig. p. 99. Provenance: Galleria Monica de Cardenas, Milan; private collection, Asia; Sotheby's, New York 10.11.2004, lot 572; private collection, Germany; Grisebach, Berlin 28.11.2014, lot 765; private collection, Northern Germany. Taxation: differential tax VAT: Margin Scheme