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Combined Shape Created with Sketch.

Kopf W (Head W)

Artist
A. R. Penck, German, 1939–2017
Depicted
Michael Werner, German, born 1939
Date
1984
Material
Lead and paint
cast in
Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen state, Germany, Europe
Classification
Metalwork, sculpture
Collection
Modern and Contemporary Art
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
26 1/4 x 8 3/8 x 9 1/2 in. (66.7 x 21.3 x 24.1 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn in honor of her father, David May, by exchange
Rights
© A.R.Penck, Courtesy Galerie Michael Werner, New York--Cologne
Object Number
12:2003
NOTES
Although this sculpture is made of painted lead, its craggy surface appears to have been hewn from a block of wood. A.R. Penck cast a series of these metal figures after wooden originals. The artist said that casting wooden sculptures in metal allowed him to “achieve an effect that was estranged from its original.” Through this production of a sculptural edition, Penck, who emigrated from communist East Germany, wryly comments on the art market of capitalist West Germany, which supported multiples as profitable commodities.
- 2003
Michael Werner Gallery, New York, NY, USA; Cologne, Germany

2003 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Michael Werner Gallery [1]


Notes:
The main source for the provenance is an email from Michael Werner Gallery dated April 10, 2003 [SLAM document files].

[1] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 4, 2003; and the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 10, 2003.
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