Sigmar Polke

1941-2010 · German · Capitalist Realism, Pop art

Auction record: $27.13M

Dschungel (Jungle), 1967 · Sotheby's, New York · May 13, 2015

Biography

Sigmar Polke, born in Oels, Silesia, grew up in East Germany before his family fled to the West. At the Düsseldorf Academy he co-founded Capitalist Realism with Gerhard Richter and Konrad Lueg in 1963, painting consumer goods and enlarged halftone dots that mocked both West German prosperity and American Pop. He went on to experiment restlessly with patterned fabrics, photography, toxic pigments, resins and chemical reactions, creating layered, alchemical images. He won the Golden Lion at the 1986 Venice Biennale. Polke is a museum favourite with a smaller and more selective market than Richter's. Major 1960s raster and fabric paintings lead, with Dschungel holding the record at 27.1 million dollars since 2015.

Market

Liquidity: Low

Museums

Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate Modern, Londra
Museum Ludwig, Colonia
Städel Museum, Francoforte

Sources

All 100 artists

Follow the artists and receive alerts in the Unicorn Art Watch app.

Investing involves the risk of losing capital.