About the work
This still very early sheet from 1969 from the work of Siegward Sprotte also breathes the inspiration of Asian art. We stand with the painter on the beach and look at a sunset at the seaside. The sun has already taken on a fiery red colour and the sky is satiated everywhere with its glow. Only a moment later it will disappear into the peaceful blue sea and leave the coast to the onrushing twilight.
Sprotte’s passion was for the island of Sylt, where he settled in 1945: it was always for the endless sea and the art of the Far East. He was able to create a convincing synthesis between European art and that of Asia with an easy hand. His work can be characterised as a successful dialogue between East and West.
“You look at your landscape on the horizon (eye to eye)”, according to the artist. “You start from the middle. Western and Eastern, Northern and Southern all interact together. Art is world art. It builds on the world in which we live. Art can’t be provincialised. When you divide art into arts, you divide the world into worlds.”
Text authored and provided by Dr. Doris Hansmann, Art historian
Studies of art history, theater, film and television, English and Romance Languages at the University of Cologne, doctorated in 1994. Research assistant at the Art Museum Düsseldorf. Lecturer and project manager at Wienand Verlag, Cologne. Freelance work as an author, editor and book producer for publishers and museums in Germany and abroad. From 2011 chief editor at Wienand Verlag, from 2019 to 2021 senior editor at DCV, Dr. Cantz’sche Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin. Numerous publications on the art of the 20th and 21st centuries.
