Teine Tunst mache
- Translated titleMake No Art
- Year1965
- MaterialEmulsion paint on canvas
- Dimensions120 x 120 cm
- Year of acquisition2018
- Inventory numberUAB 1216
- On viewCurrently not exhibited
- Copyright© The Estate of Jörg Immendorff, Courtesy Galerie Michael Werner
Märkisch Wilmersdorf, Köln & New York. Photo: Thomas Mueller
More about the artwork
Hardly anything is cuter than tiny babies. But Jörg Immendorff’s baby seems rather threatening. A chubby infant’s head cries oversized tears in bright colors. Below it is written, almost imploringly, “Teine Tunst mache” – make no art. At the time, Immendorff was a student in Joseph Beuys’s class at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, and just like his teacher he was driven by societal concerns. He painted his babies during the time of the Vietnam War, as an appeal to peacefulness. At the same time, they bear witness to Immendorff’s biting humor, which was also directed against his own craft and its “whiny” self-centeredness. For him, the task of art was to change the world—and not to dwell on one’s self-doubts. Only a year later he demanded, “Stop painting.” He thereby exposed the dilemma inherent to politically-engaged art. For even the desire to leave painting behind finds its way back into painting.
