Oil on canvas.
Signed lower right. 100 x 70 cm (39,3 x 27,5 in).

PROVENANCE: Private collection Frankfurt am Main.

EXHIBITION: Das Jahr 1989, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne 1990, cat. no. 2 (with illu.).

Even thoughthe stick figures are considered a trade mark of Penck's art, portrait painting also plays an important role in the artist's œuvre. Time and again he reverts to this topic. The oldest portrait is from 1956, one of the latest was made in 2007. In 1980 Penck flles the GDR and settles in Lörsdorf near Kerpen. His denaturalization leads to a deep identitiy crisis. He feels deracinated and considers himself an immigrant in Germany. The feeling of not belonging is reflected in his self portrait "Ich in Lörsdorf", which was made nine years later. The head, executed in broad pastose brush strokes, sinks into a black nothingness. As a consequence of this feeling Penck relocates to London and commutes back and forth between London and Düsseldorf. Today the artist lives and works in Ireland. [SM].