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Markus Lüpertz Ditches His Düsseldorf Studio
The German artist still keeps studios in three other cities.
Alyssa Buffenstein
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Markus Lüpertz is leaving his Düsseldorf studio, and moving back to his hometown of Rheydt, DPA reports. The German Neo-Expressionist painter and sculptor already keeps a studio and a warehouse in the small borough, about 20 miles east of Düsseldorf—besides his studios in Karlsruhe, Southern Germany, Märkisch Wilmersdorf in Brandenburg, and Florence, Italy.
He is no longer head of the Düsseldorf Art Academy, a post he had held for 20 years from 1988 until 2009, so the west German city is of less appeal. He will, however, continue to cast his sculptures there.
Perhaps there’s something to be said for keeping a smaller number of studios, as Lüpertz’s have been the target of multiple robberies in the recent past.
In March 2015, he fended off one attempted robbery, but in December of the same year, a studio he kept in Teltow, outside Berlin, was broken into by thieves who stole 15 unfinished paintings, 15 framed sketches, and three bronze sculptures worth around $1.1 million. After this incident, the artist left his Teltow studio (even though, in February 2016, all but one of the stolen works had been mysteriously returned to his doorstep).
Of much acclaim in Germany, Lüpertz, aged 75, will have his first major US survey this year, with two concurrent exhibitions in Washington, DC. At the Phillips Collection, a show opening on May 27 and running until September 3, will comprise works from the 1960s until today.
It complements “Markus Lüpertz: Threads of History” at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, which will take a look into the artist’s early work from 1962 to 1975. This will open on May 24, and be on view until September 10.
Additionally, Lüpertz’s longtime New York City representation, Michael Werner Gallery, will stage a show of new works by the artist in May.
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