Of all his work materials, arsenic is particularly precious to Sigmar Polke. So are lavender oil, meteor dust and flakes of gold and cinnabar, all of which he has incorporated into his paintings at one time or another. On a recent rainy afternoon, however, it was a pure, crystallized violet pigment that preoccupied the artist…

One of the most important and influential figures on the artistic scene today, Sigmar Polke began his professional career as a painter in 1963…

Polke first came to public notice as a founding member of the school of Capitalist Realism. Like Pop Art, the movement concerned itself with the objects and events of daily life. At the same time, however, it sought to be perceived as an ironic take on Socialist Realism. Pictures such as Plastic Tubs (1964) and The Sausage Eater (1963) illustrate the school’s difference to Pop Art, its humorous distance from and critical attitude towards the world of goods and services…

Acrylic, wood, mixed media, framed collage on canvas and material

Sigmar Polke is an artist whose work defies easy definitions. He is one of the most significant painters of the post-war generation, yet his career has by no means been confined to painting. Since the early 1960s Polke has experimented with a wide range of styles and subject matter, bringing together imagery from contradictory or unexpected sources, both historical and contemporary, and using a variety of different materials and techniques. In fact Polke’s artistic diversity, and his resistance to any form of categorisation, has been seen as the only consistent theme in his work…