Footnotes

This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Provenance
Galleria Arte92, Milan
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 2007

Exhibited
Milan, Galleria Art92, Arnulf Rainer, 2006-2007, p. 41, illustrated in colour (installation view) and p. 49, illustrated in colour



A perennial art school dropout, Arnulf Rainer's inimitable style results from him consistently rejecting the mainstream. Despite his non-conformist approach, major museums and collectors soon validated his singular, provocative influence. Exhibitions at the Documenta 6 in 1977, the Venice Biennale in 1978 and retrospectives at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, have long cemented his standing amongst some of the most stimulating figures in Contemporary Art. Today, his 'cross' paintings can be found in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, MoMA, New York and the Tate Collection, London.

Born in 1929 in Baden, near Vienna, Arnulf Rainer approached the ubiquitous symbol of the cross for the first time in the mid-1950s. His preoccupation with religious theories and practices runs through much of his work with the cross playing a significant role in his oeuvre. Rainer tried to avoid outright religious connotations, instead, the distinctly shaped paintings show some of the artists most dogged pursuits towards the creation of a new visual language.

Rainer's work is driven by a desire to re-contextualise the symbol, push past the limits of traditional imagery and capture extreme emotion. He draws inspiration and stimulation from the same questions of presence and representation that would have occupied his religiously motivated predecessors. An iconoclast in much of his work, Rainer annexed the subject of the cross from a variety of viewpoints, theological, art historical and personal, drawing amongst others on the chromatic splendour and agelessness of works by Fra Angelico and Giotto.

A perfect melange of colour, energy and spirituality, Kreuz from 1991-1992 triggers both sentiments of ecstasy and tranquillity; all reminiscent of a religious experience. Honed through years of practice and fuelled by obsession, Rainer propels the colour onto the board at speed, often surpassing the set parameters of the sacred shape. He creates thick, textured outbursts and translucent streams of blues, like waterfalls, plummeting into the abyss. The distinct choice of warm yellows, vibrant hues of azure and a thickly textured claret invites our mind to wander into the familiar realms of mythology, whilst staying true to Rainer's expressionistic ambitions. Within the familiar confines of the shape of Kreuz, there is a tension at play between form and abstraction, iconography and painterliness.

Throughout his life, Rainer experimented with a large number of different cross shapes, even inventing a few new ones, all based on the classic crux immissa. In the present work, the artist opted for the illusion of a heavy, thick vertical beam and a comparatively short horizontal one, tapering down slightly and creating an effective stage for the paint to drip freely, reminding us ever so slightly of the human form, Jesus Christ and our own inevitable mortality. The cross is inseparably entwined with European history and as such, its artistic value and potential cannot be overstated.

Coming to auction for the very first time, Kreuz presents a rare opportunity to acquire one of the artist's most iconic and haunting images.