Per Kirkeby
Per Kirkeby (1938-2018), born in Copenhagen, lived and worked in Copenhagen and Læsø, Denmark, and Arnasco, Italy. Kirkeby was a major Danish artist who created a diverse body of work as a painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. Initially influenced by Pop Art, he turned to abstraction in the 1970s and became known for his brick sculptures. Politically engaged, he supported the 1968 movement and traveled to Mayan archaeological sites. He regarded his time in Germany – particularly at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and the Städelschule in Frankfurt – as crucial to his development as an international artist.
Per Kirkeby Editions
Athos
1999
Lithograph from stone on rag paper, 94.5 x 65.5 cm (37 x 25¾ in). Edition of 99, signed and numbered.
Per Kirkeby’s lithograph Athos (1999) captivates with a central, luminous red framed by fields of yellow. Only upon closer inspection does a complex texture of hatching, smudges, and scratch marks reveal itself. The yellow areas condense into rock-like structures – a nod to Kirkeby’s geological interests. The title of this edition refers to Mount Athos, a spiritual center known for its centuries-old monasteries and caves. Kirkeby plays with ambivalence: the red forms at the center of the image open like mysterious mouths, their meaning remaining elusive. With masterful use of lithography, he merges delicate drawing with painterly depth and vibrant color dynamics.
EUR 1,000
Untergang
1998
From Sequences
Three lithographs, printed from three to five stones on Velin Arches rag paper. Each print 50 x 40 cm (19¾ x 15¾ in), each signed and numbered. Edition of 60.
Per Kirkeby’s lithograph Athos (1999) captivates with a central, luminous red framed by fields of yellow. Only upon closer inspection does a complex texture of hatching, smudges, and scratch marks reveal itself. The yellow areas condense into rock-like structures – a nod to Kirkeby’s geological interests. The title of this edition refers to Mount Athos, a spiritual center known for its centuries-old monasteries and caves. Kirkeby plays with ambivalence: the red forms at the center of the image open like mysterious mouths, their meaning remaining elusive. With masterful use of lithography, he merges delicate drawing with painterly depth and vibrant color dynamics.
Set EUR 3,000
Untitled
1986
From For Joseph Beuys
Etching / aquatint on rag paper, 58 x 75.5 cm (22¾ x 29¾ in), edition of 90 + XXX, signed and numbered.
Per Kirkeby created this edition for the group portfolio For Joseph Beuys, which Schellmann and Klüser had initiated to commemorate Beuys’ death. Kirkeby and Beuys, both pivotal figures in postwar European art, moved in some of the same artistic and institutional circles during the 1970s and 1980s.
EUR 2,000
