(Dortmund 1953–1997 Vienna)
Untitled, 1996, monogrammed, dated M. K. 96, oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private Collection
Wiener Kunst Auktionen, Vienna, 21.4.1999, lot 351
Art Collection E.ON Germany - acquired from the above

Literature:
Martin Kippenberger, Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde/Catalogue Raisonné of the paintings, vol. 4, 1993–1997, Ed. Estate of Martin Kippenberger, Gisela Capitain, Lisa Franzen, Regina Fiorito, Cologne 2014, p. 245, no. MK P 1996.12 (col. ill.)

Compare:
Alan Licht, Back to the Egg, in: Martin Kippenberger, Eggman II, New York 2011, p. 27 (not ill.)
Manfred Hermes, Eierbilder (Egg Paintings) 1994–1996; in: Exhibit. cat. Nach Kippenberger/after Kippenberger, Mumok Vienna, 12.6.-31.8.2003,
Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven, 22.11.2003–1.2.2004, p. 204–207 (not ill.)

“Art was not a reflection of his life: it was his life,” Susanne Kippenberger, Kippenberger, Der Künstler und seine Familien, Berlin 2010, p. 17
“Every weakness was transformed into a strength in art,” Susanne Kippenberger, p. 21

 “In painting, you’ve got to look at the windfall that’s left for you to paint. Eggs get a raw deal; Warhol had already claimed bananas. You pick out a shape, it’s always something angular, square, something to do with form and format, with the golden ratio. Eggs are white and insipid: how can you turn that into a colourful picture?” (Interview with Daniel Baumann 1996, Susanne Kippenberger, p. 522).

 The egg has been used in Martin Kippenberger’s work since the 1980s as a symbol of the protection of unborn life and fertility. The dinosaur baby in its shell simultaneously symbolises eternity and the development of fossils and monsters, while reaching back to a period in the distant past that Kippenberger brings into the present with this painting. In May 1996 the National Geographic Society published an issue entitled “Dinosaur Eggs.” (National Geographic, vol. 189, no. 5). The article included numerous replicas of dinosaur eggs made by the model builders Brian Cooley and Marr R. Smith. One of the eggs depicted in this issue seems to have fascinated Martin Kippenberger to such an extent that he used it as a template for the dinosaur egg in this image, “Ohne Titel” (“Untitled”). Obviously, he also integrated these primordial egg motifs into his large-scale collection of “egg material” so that he could use them as further templates for egg images. They also provided supplementary visual material for the catalogue of the exhibition entitled “Der Eiermann und seine Ableger / The Eggman and his Outriggers” which was held in the Städtisches Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach in 1997. The exhibition demonstrates how Kippenberger used an apparently simple theme to create an exceptionally colourful, varied and diverse world of art. The exhibition also highlighted the variety of ways in which he worked with the egg: sometimes appearing as a hen’s egg in its shell, such as on his tricycle, as a fried egg, as an egg filled with something and thereby offering protection for unborn life, and promotional eggs adapted for his art.
 The simple image of the white egg, a nucleus of life whose core conceals the most fascinating biological and physical processes, became a key motif for Kippenberger in 1996 – for his art and for his own self. Consequently, the egg is not just a simple motif laden with content: Manfred Hermes thinks that the small dinosaur is Kippenberger’s self-portrait. The “painting shows an extinct animal in its prenatal state – a fossil of dreamlike protected vitality. If Kippenberger truly envisioned the egg motif entirely from the perspective of the body, this would first and foremost be a concrete reference to himself as a person and artist.” (Manfred Hermes, “The Oval in the Square,” in: Dorotheum my Art Magazine no. 10, Vienna 2017, p. 9) In addition to eggs, streetlamps are a central motif in Kippenberger’s work. For the painter, the drunken streetlamp is a symbol of alcoholism, of the funny night owl who finds support and companionship in/with alcohol while leaning on the lamppost. Kippenberger provides the viewer with a targeted reference to alcohol consumption by shaping the torso of his stick-man to resemble a tankard.
 The night owl clutching onto the lamppost may represent another self-portrait. This time the stick-man clutching onto a bolt-upright “sober” lamppost is depicted in the painting as the counterpart to the dinosaur baby looking for protection in its egg, surrounded by materials that give it strength and vitality.
 “Art was not a reflection of his life: it was his life”: this is how Kippenberger viewed his work to the very end. He transformed some challenging moments in his life into happy motifs in his images, which simultaneously act as a reference to the savage, cruel side of life. Until the very end, Martin Kippenberger was intent on drawing a colourful, cheerful image from all life’s challenges, thereby perfectly exemplifying his own sense of humour and perpetual optimism.

Provenance:
Private Collection
Wiener Kunst Auktionen, Vienna, 21.4.1999, lot 351
Art Collection E.ON Germany - acquired from the above

Literature:
Martin Kippenberger, Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde/Catalogue Raisonné of the paintings, vol. 4, 1993–1997, Ed. Estate of Martin Kippenberger, Gisela Capitain, Lisa Franzen, Regina Fiorito, Cologne 2014, p. 245, no. MK P 1996.12 (col. ill.)

Compare:
Alan Licht, Back to the Egg, in: Martin Kippenberger, Eggman II, New York 2011, p. 27 (not ill.)
Manfred Hermes, Eierbilder (Egg Paintings) 1994–1996; in: Exhibit. cat. Nach Kippenberger/after Kippenberger, Mumok Vienna, 12.6.-31.8.2003,
Van Abbe Museum Eindhoven, 22.11.2003–1.2.2004, p. 204–207 (not ill.)

The egg has been used in Martin Kippenberger’s work since the 1980s as a symbol of the protection of unborn life and fertility. The dinosaur baby in its shell simultaneously symbolises eternity and the development of fossils and monsters, while reaching back to a period in the distant past that Kippenberger brings into the present with this painting. In May 1996 the National Geographic Society published an issue entitled “Dinosaur Eggs.” (National Geographic, vol. 189, no. 5). The article included numerous replicas of dinosaur eggs made by the model builders Brian Cooley and Marr R. Smith. One of the eggs depicted in this issue seems to have fascinated Martin Kippenberger to such an extent that he used it as a template for the dinosaur egg in this image, “Ohne Titel” (“Untitled”). Obviously, he also integrated these primordial egg motifs into his large-scale collection of “egg material” so that he could use them as further templates for egg images. They also provided supplementary visual material for the catalogue of the exhibition entitled “Der Eiermann und seine Ableger / The Eggman and his Outriggers” which was held in the Städtisches Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach in 1997. The exhibition demonstrates how Kippenberger used an apparently simple theme to create an exceptionally colourful, varied and diverse world of art. The exhibition also highlighted the variety of ways in which he worked with the egg: sometimes appearing as a hen’s egg in its shell, such as on his tricycle, as a fried egg, as an egg filled with something and thereby offering protection for unborn life, and promotional eggs adapted for his art.
The simple image of the white egg, a nucleus of life whose core conceals the most fascinating biological and physical processes, became a key motif for Kippenberger in 1996 – for his art and for his own self. Consequently, the egg is not just a simple motif laden with content: Manfred Hermes thinks that the small dinosaur is Kippenberger’s self-portrait. The “painting shows an extinct animal in its prenatal state – a fossil of dreamlike protected vitality. If Kippenberger truly envisioned the egg motif entirely from the perspective of the body, this would first and foremost be a concrete reference to himself as a person and artist.” (Manfred Hermes, “The Oval in the Square,” in: Dorotheum my Art Magazine no. 10, Vienna 2017, p. 9)
In addition to eggs, streetlamps are a central motif in Kippenberger’s work. For the painter, the drunken streetlamp is a symbol of alcoholism, of the funny night owl who finds support and companionship in/with alcohol while leaning on the lamppost. Kippenberger provides the viewer with a targeted reference to alcohol consumption by shaping the torso of his stick-man to resemble a tankard.
The night owl clutching onto the lamppost may represent another self-portrait. This time the stick-man clutching onto a bolt-upright “sober” lamppost is depicted in the painting as the counterpart to the dinosaur baby looking for protection in its egg, surrounded by materials that give it strength and vitality.
“Art was not a reflection of his life: it was his life”: this is how Kippenberger viewed his work to the very end. He transformed some challenging moments in his life into happy motifs in his images, which simultaneously act as a reference to the savage, cruel side of life. Until the very end, Martin Kippenberger was intent on drawing a colourful, cheerful image from all life’s challenges, thereby perfectly exemplifying his own sense of humour and perpetual optimism.

“Art was not a reflection of his life: it was his life,”
Susanne Kippenberger, Kippenberger, Der Künstler und seine Familien, Berlin 2010, p. 17

“Every weakness was transformed into a strength in art,”
Susanne Kippenberger, p. 21