Marder-Mandorla, Gerhard Altenbourg
Gerhard Altenbourg
Marder-Mandorla
DE
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Gerhard Altenbourg

Marder-Mandorla, 1982 – 1984


Blatt
490 x 340 mm
Physical Description
Gouache, powder paint, watercolour, pencil, Chinese ink over lithograph on cream-coloured wove paper, mounted on laid paper
Inventory Number
17100
Object Number
17100 Z
Acquisition
Acquired in 2011 as a gift from Margarethe and Klaus Posselt
Status
Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

For this work, Gerhard Altenbourg drew on a print – now a lithograph he had made of two large heads facing one another and enclosed in a subdivided roundish form. He covered this image with tiny, densely placed dots and filigree strokes. To that end, he presumably employed an extremely fine marten-hair brush of the kind otherwise used by, for example, Indian miniature painters. He thus created the effect of a multi-layered, pale golden ornamental picture. His title confronts the “mandorla” otherwise surrounding Christ – a symbol of dignity in medieval Christian art – with the vicious marten whose hairs he had used to execute the artwork.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Marder-Mandorla (Original Title)
Title Translation
Marten Mandorla
Draughtsman
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Gouache, powder paint, watercolour, pencil, Chinese ink over lithograph on cream-coloured wove paper, mounted on laid paper
Material
Technique
Geographic Reference
Production Reason
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Monogrammiert unten mittig (mit Pinsel in Schwarz): Altenbourg 1984 /GA 1982
Betitelt viertelhoch links (mit Feder in Schwarz): Marder-Mandorla
Verso unten mittig (mit Pinsel in Schwarz): Altenbourg / 84/35
In der Darstellung unten mittig Trockenstempel der Sammlung Gerhard Altenbourg, Altenburg (Lugt 3202)
Captions Added Later
Verso bezeichnet unten rechts (mit Bleistift): BE 5376
Watermark
  • Nicht geprüft
Work Catalogues
  • Janda III.84/35

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
Acquisition
Acquired in 2011 as a gift from Margarethe and Klaus Posselt

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Iconclass

Primary
  • 0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
  • 31A24(+3) postures of the head (+ sideview, profile)

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
Lotar Rubow, Viersen
Höppner
Auktion 703, Lempertz, Köln, 1994, Nr. 444
Galerie Brusberg Berlin
Galerie Posselt, Bonn
Privatbesitz Bonn, erworben 1999.
Sammlung Margarethe und Klaus Posselt, Frankfurt/Bonn
Schenkung an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2011.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

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Last update

25.04.2024