About the work

This work from 1985 is distinguished by the characteristic triad of sky, water and beach for which Siegward Sprotte, the student of Karl Hagemeister and Emil Orlik, was known. Sprotte’s work is highly diverse and eludes any kind of classification into art-historical “isms”. While Sprotte initially worked on his Köpfe der Gegenwart (Heads of the Present) portrait series in the style of the old masters in a more classic manner on Sylt after 1944, his painting distanced itself over time from the representational and turned toward a painting that was increasingly reduced to the essential. Like many other artists of the 20th century, Sprotte also found inspiration during his many travels. While the North Sea island of Sylt and especially the town of Kampen was his main place of residence following the end of the Second World War, his life and work is inconceivable without his many stays at locations both in Germany and abroad. He himself often emphasised that he didn’t want to settle down anywhere. “I carry my south into the north and also never give up my south in the north.” Sprotte changed his places of residence in an annual work rhythm: Kampen – Berlin – Potsdam – Munich – New York and Italy – France – Portugal (Madeira). These travels also involved encounters with many important personalities: Hermann Kasack, Eugen Herrigel, Jiddu Krishnamurti, David Bohm, H. L. C. Jaffé, Herbert Read, Philippe d’Arschot, Will Grohmann, Pierre Bertaux, Hermann Hesse, José Ortega y Gasset, Karl Jaspers, Jean Gebser, Wolfgang Schadewaldt, Imma von Bodmershof, Herbert von Garvens, Herbert Meier, Heinz-Wolfgang Kuhn, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde, Rolf Nesch and Hans Hartung.
Sprotte was thus involved in a constant discourse involving art and the history of thought. As his wife Cosmea Sprotte said on the occasion of the interview for his 100th birthday on 20 April 2013, he always refused to talk about his works and was instead primarily interested in the creative process. “He was convinced that dialogue was the highest form of the image.” Writing, the expression of his theoretical thoughts, was thus also one of his central concerns.