Lot number 461 - Auction 144
'OHNE TITEL (KNAUF)' (1986)

ANDREAS SCHULZE 1955 Hannover 'UNTITLED (KNOB)' (1986) Acrylic on nettle. 180 x 250 cm. Signed and dated on the reverse. Verso: inscribed with adhesive label of gallery Monika Sprüth, Cologne. Slightly soiled, part. slightly rubbed. Provenance: Corporate collection North Rhine-Westphalia. Andreas Schulze, born in Hanover in 1955, established himself as a formative figure in the Cologne art scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a member of the painters' group Mülheimer Freiheit and through his collaboration with the gallery owner Paul Maenz, he developed an unmistakable style that is characterised by a combination of figurative representation and surreal elements. 'Untitled (Knauf)', a painting from 1986, is an early example of his consistent rejection of conventional styles in favour of a personal, original mode of expression. The title refers to the seemingly banal - a doorknob - but Schulze's depiction elevates this everyday object into the realm of the abstract and strange. In the composition, geometric shapes merge with soft, biomorphic lines, while spherical colour gradients in the background create a dreamlike atmosphere. The knob, actually a functional detail, becomes the centre of a subtly staged tension between the familiar and the surreal. The ironic yet likeable simplicity of 'Ohne Titel (Knauf)' illustrates Schulze's artistic strategy of isolating the banal, abstracting it and charging it with new meanings. The painting is exemplary of Schulze's interest in bourgeois symbols and their humorous deconstruction. Here, the artist blurs the boundary between interior and exterior space and between functionality and decoration. 'Untitled (Knauf)' also demonstrates Schulze's painterly ingenuity, which draws on both art historical references and radical individuality. The design, reminiscent of naïve painting, and the surreal shift in proportions and perspectives reveal influences from Pop Art and Surrealism, which Schulze interprets with his unmistakable signature style. In the Cologne art scene of the 1980s, Andreas Schulze was regarded as an outsider who consciously positioned himself outside the established trends. With works such as 'Untitled (Knauf)', he emphasised the aesthetics of the everyday and at the same time questioned its usual perception. The painting invites viewers to question the apparent comfort of bourgeois fetishes without denying the absurd beauty of these objects.