Lot: 838

Fritz Köthe (1916 Berlin - 2005 ibid)
'Syntric', 1965

Oil on canvas. 91.0 x 70.0 cm (canvas), 92.0 x 71.5 cm (frame). Monogrammed lower left: FK and dated: 1965 (oil), signed, monogrammed, dated, titled and inscribed verso: Fritz Köthe Berlin "SYNTRIC" FK 1965 (black felt-tip pen) and typographically inscribed on an adhesive label of Galerie Springer Berlin. Framed.

In the 1960s, Fritz Köthe, encouraged by Carl Laszlo, developed hyperrealistic collages from advertising images, eroticism, and technical motifs, which he condensed into precisely composed, surreal-looking visual worlds. His works are an ironic and critical examination of consumer society and the belief in technological progress at the time. Köthe's work reached its peak with the pieces STP (1968) and Syntric (1968). He achieved his first successes in 1964 at the Pels-Leusden Gallery, followed in 1968 by his admission to the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (New Society for Fine Arts) – an important step in his institutional recognition. The works document a central phase of his artistic career and his critical examination of contemporary visual worlds.

Not de-framed. Provenance: Galerie Springer, Berlin; Private collection, Baden-Württemberg; Ketterer Kunst Auction 429 (Art After 1945 - Contemporary Art - Part II) on December 4, 2015, Lot 470; Private collection, Budapest.

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Hammer Price: 8,000 €