The work ‘Requiem’ reveals a deeply personal dimension in Werner Tübke’s oeuvre. In the upper part of the picture, the artist himself appears as a bust against an antique-style background, thus alluding to the tradition of classical forms of remembrance. The lower section shows several portraits of his father taken at different times, bearing the dates ‘March 66’ and ‘June 66’. The composition is complemented by the symbol of a candle that has just been extinguished – a quiet metaphor for transience and death. Tübke’s father passed away in that very year, and the artist visibly comes to terms with his death in this work. The sheet is slightly wavy and there is some slight soiling along the lower edge.
About the Artist Werner Tübke
Werner Tübke (1929–2004), alongside Bernhard Heisig and Wolfgang Mattheuer, is one of the founders of the Leipzig School. His unmistakable old-masterly style draws on the tradition of the Renaissance and Mannerism, setting him clearly apart from the currents of the avant-garde. Tübke's work is defined by multi-figure allegorical and historical compositions executed with the utmost painterly precision. His magnum opus, the monumental Peasants' War Panorama in Bad Frankenhausen, measures roughly 14 by 123 metres — one of the largest paintings in the world, often called the "Sistine Chapel of the North." After an apprenticeship as a painter he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, where he later taught as a professor; he was one of the few East German artists to win broad recognition in the West as well.
Curated works
More works related to this artist and medium.
