Blick auf Kröllwitz, Willi Sitte
Willi Sitte
Blick auf Kröllwitz
DE
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Willi Sitte

Blick auf Kröllwitz, 1958


Dimensions
99.0 x 79.5 cm
Physical Description
Oil on hardboard
Acquisition
Acquired in 2010
Status
On display, lower level, Contemporary Art, room 5

Texts

About the Work

The viewer gets to see very little of Kröllwitz, a suburb of Halle an der Saale. In earthy shades of brown and ochre, he is presented instead a gloomy backyard scenario of roofs, facades and strangely lifeless-looking tree structures. A bulky, metallic grey, equine-looking mass rises up in the right foreground of the picture. Its faceted surface recalls Cubism and, as an abstract element, provides an exciting contrast to the world of objects. Willi Sitte's early work in particular is rich in allusions, yet much remains strangely unspoken. The artist repeatedly alienates his unattractive, monumental scenarios, contrasting strong planarity with spatial depth and making modelled corporeality clash with the ornamental. Sitte is one of the most prominent, but also most colourful, figures among the painters of the GDR. As he rose in the Communist Party nomenklatura, his initial openness, searching and non-conformity gave way to a realism which consciously took into account his proximity to the state and the political services he was called upon to perform.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Blick auf Kröllwitz (Original Title)
Title Translation
View of Kröllwitz
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on hardboard
Material
Technique
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert und datiert unten rechts: W Sitte 58

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Administration
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023
Acquisition
Acquired in 2010

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Primary
  • 25I1 city-view in general; 'veduta'
  • 61E(KRÖLLWITZ) names of cities and villages (KRÖLLWITZ)
  • 61E(HALLE) names of cities and villages (HALLE)
  • 41A141 the usual house or row of houses
Secondary
  • 41A36 roof (of house or building)
  • 25G3 trees
  • 44E42 pylons, power lines

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Last update

15.05.2023