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Karl Mordstein
Aus dem Totenbuch einer Stadt (IV) - The presence of the submerged -

1983

$368.49
$460.6120% Off
£277.42
£346.7720% Off
€312
€39020% Off
CA$507.62
CA$634.5220% Off
A$568.50
A$710.6320% Off
CHF 296.63
CHF 370.7920% Off
MX$6,943.99
MX$8,679.9920% Off
NOK 3,774.05
NOK 4,717.5720% Off
SEK 3,557.50
SEK 4,446.8720% Off
DKK 2,374.99
DKK 2,968.7320% Off

About the Item

Karl Ludwig Mordstein (1937 Füssen - 2006 Wilszhofen), From the Book of the Dead of a City (IV), 1983. Color etching, copy 16/60, 15.5 x 18.5 cm (image), 30 x 35 cm (sheet), 33.5 x 38.5 cm (frame), titled, numbered, monogrammed and dated in lead. Framed behind glass. - In very good condition. - The presence of the submerged - About the artwork The multicolored aquatint etching bears the poetic title "From the Book of the Dead of a City (IV)". The reference to a book, combined with the Roman numeral, suggests that the image is part of a narrative, the fourth chapter of which is before us here. Thus, the sunken city is not erased, but continues to be present in its place, forming - as the numbering indicates - different stages, even if the city as such is no longer visible. Karl Mordstein has made this mysterious presence in the invisible tangible in a haunting way. The brown-green-yellow tones alone have an intense suggestive power. The yellow hills in the background have the effect of a desert landscape, making it clear that this is an inhospitable region, even though the desert sand may harbor something underneath. The dominant foreground is an abstract illustration of a tree growth that looks like a wild thicket, seemingly impenetrable because of the dark tonality. A filigree lattice structure is laid over this area, which has an architectural quality and allows the submerged city to become present. On the other hand, the fluctuating line fragments of the sky, which are just as moving as the dramatically undulating thicket, make the doom present. The chapter of the Book of the Dead of a city, moving in itself, nevertheless unfolds a gravitational calm through the color chord, which animates the viewer to immerse himself in the picture. About the artist After graduating from the Werkkunstschule in Augsburg, Karl Mordstein worked as a commercial artist in Munich before becoming a freelance artist and concentrating entirely on his own creations. In 1970 Mordstein married the sculptor Sinen Thalheimer and the artist couple moved to Starnberg. In 1972, Mordstein had his first solo exhibition in Munich, which marked the beginning of an active international exhibition career that lasted for decades. From 1987 the couple lived on the Hollerberg in Wilzhofen. "It is certainly not wrong to recognize in the impression of his calmly floating color drawings the expression of a state of mind that owes itself precisely to this conscious turning away from the hectic art market: concentrated serenity. It is not a changing state of mind, but an empathy with the supra-individual rhythms of creation, the perpetual genesis in the natural cycle of becoming and passing, which is expressed in them." - Stefan Tolksdorf Selected Bibliography Karl Mordstein. Aquarelle, Gouachen 1972 – 1975, Galerie Angst und Orny, München 1975. Juliane Roh: Karl Mordstein. Bilder, Paintings 1976 – 79, Frankfurt a. M. 1979. Siegfried Salzmann (Text): Karl Mordstein. Arbeiten auf Papier, Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Mainz 1982. Galerie Heimeshoff (Hrsg.): Karl Mordstein. "Seelen-Notate"; Bilder, Arbeiten auf Papier, Bildkästen; 1985 – 1988, Essen 1988. Stefan Tolksdorf (Text): Lebenszeichen. Mordstein, Karl und Sinen Thalheimer, Essen 2009. GERMAN VERSION Karl Ludwig Mordstein (1937 Füssen – 2006 Wilszhofen), Aus dem Totenbuch einer Stadt (IV), 1983. Farbradierung, Exemplar 16/60, 15,5 x 18,5 cm (Darstellung), 30 x 35 cm (Blattgröße), 33,5 x 38,5 cm (Rahmen), in Blei betitelt, nummeriert, monogrammiert und datiert. Hinter Glas gerahmt. - in sehr gutem Erhaltungszustand - Die Präsenz des Untergegangenen - zum Kunstwerk Die mehrfarbige Aquatintaradierung trägt den poetischen Titel „Aus dem Totenbuch einer Stadt (IV)“. Die Angabe, es handele sich um ein Buch im Verbund mit der römischen Ziffer suggeriert, das Bild wäre Teil einer Erzählung, deren viertes Kapitel hier vor Augen stünde. Damit ist die untergegangene Stadt nicht ausradiert, sondern weiterhin an ihrem Ort präsent und bildet – wie die Nummerierung markiert – verschiedene Stadien aus, auch wenn die Stadt als solche gar nicht mehr sichtbar ist. Diese geheimnisvolle Präsenz im Nicht-Sichtbaren hat Karl Mordstein auf eindringliche Weise erfahrbar gemacht. Bereits die braun-grün-gelbtonale Farbigkeit entfaltet eine intensive Suggestivkraft. Die gelben Hügel des Hintergrundes wirken wie eine Wüstenlandschaft, die verdeutlicht, dass es sich um eine unwirtliche Region handelt, wobei der Wüstensand jedoch etwas unter sich bergen mag. Der dominierende Vordergrund veranschaulicht auf abstrakte Weise einen wie wildes Dickicht wirkenden Baumbewuchs, der durch die dunkle Tonalität schier undurchdringlich zu sein scheint. Über diesen Bereich ist eine filigrane Gitterstruktur gelegt, die etwas Architektonisches hat und die untergegangene Stadt präsent werden lässt. Die fluktuierenden Strichfragmente des Himmels, die ebenso bewegt sind wie das dramatisch wogende Dickicht, lassen hingegen den Untergang präsent werden. Das in sich bewegte Kapitel des Totenbuchs einer Stadt entfaltet durch den Farbakkord dennoch eine gravitätische Ruhe, die den Betrachter animiert, sich in das Bild hinein zu versenken. zum Künstler Karl Mordstein absolvierte die Werkkunstschule Augsburg und war zunächst in München als Gebrauchsgraphiker tätig, bevor er sich als freier Künstler ganz auf seine eigenen Schöpfungen konzentrierte. 1970 ehelichte Mordstein die Bildhauerin Sinen Thalheimer und das Künstlerpaar zog nach Starnberg. 1972 fand in München eine erste Einzelausstellung seiner Werke statt, die den Auftakt einer über Jahrzehnte währenden regen internationalen Ausstellungstätigkeit markierte. Ab 1987 lebte das Paar auf dem Hollerberg in Wilzhofen. "Es ist gewiss nicht falsch, in der Anmutung seiner ruhig schwebenden Farbzeichnungen den Ausdruck einer Geisteshaltung zu erkennen, die sich gerade dieser bewussten Abkehr vom hektischen Kunstmarktgeschehen verdankt: konzentrierte Gelassenheit. Nicht wechselnde Befindlichkeit, sondern die Einfühlung in überindividuelle Schöpfungsrhythmen, die immerwährende Genesis im natürlichen Kreislauf von Werden und Vergehen drückt sich darin aus." - Stefan Tolksdorf Auswahlbibliographie Karl Mordstein. Aquarelle, Gouachen 1972 – 1975, Galerie Angst und Orny, München 1975. Juliane Roh: Karl Mordstein. Bilder, Paintings 1976 – 79, Frankfurt a. M. 1979. Siegfried Salzmann (Text): Karl Mordstein. Arbeiten auf Papier, Galerie Dorothea van der Koelen, Mainz 1982. Galerie Heimeshoff (Hrsg.): Karl Mordstein. "Seelen-Notate"; Bilder, Arbeiten auf Papier, Bildkästen; 1985 – 1988, Essen 1988. Stefan Tolksdorf (Text): Lebenszeichen. Mordstein, Karl und Sinen Thalheimer, Essen 2009.
  • Creator:
    Karl Mordstein (1937 - 2006, German)
  • Creation Year:
    1983
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Width: 9.85 in (25 cm)Depth: 0.79 in (2 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Berlin, DE
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2438212372622

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During this phase he wrote the manifesto-like essay "Principles of Supranatural Landscape" (1979). From 1981 on, Möbius concentrated on painting and searched for artistic ways to "treat intellectual and sensual perception equally in the fusion of representational and abstract pictorial elements" (Wolfgang Zemter). He found inspiration on his study trips to Thailand and Sri Lanka. 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Kunstverein Darmstadt (Hrsg.): Jürgen Möbius. Bilder 1985 - 1988. Kunsthalle Darmstadt, 26. Juni - 14. August 1988. Red. Dorit Marhenke, Lyrik Marcus Schiltenwolf, Düsseldorf 1988. Gabriele Prusko (Hrsg.): Jürgen Möbius. Mit Texten von Philippe Büttner und Ralph Mieritz, Basel 1992. Wolfgang Zemter (Hrsg.): Jürgen Möbius - Aktuelle Arbeiten. Märkisches Museum der Stadt Witten, Bönen 1999. Wolfgang Zemter (Hrsg.): Jürgen Möbius. Flieger in meinem Zimmer und Beruhigte Zone, Bönen 2004. Dama Gallery...
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