About the work
This gouache was completed in the garden of Sprotte's home in Kampen. The colours of the red-orange field poppy leaves are energized by the complementary contrast with green, in concert with the mutually enhancing intensity of the yellow-violet lupin blossoms. The painter has captured the long, slightly spiral-like stems of the poppy in just a few sparse brush strokes - with the same consummate artistry applied to render the flower petals. Precise observation and a keen interest in the world of plants are the basic prerequisites for executing such a lyrical work. Siegward Sprotte himself articulated this precondition during a stay on the Côte d’Azur in 1962: "The plant is as alien as the tree to people in a rush, because the former, rooted as they are to one spot, lead a most eventful existence, which savours the hours of the night and the day, in summer as well as in winter, far more than those in a hurry. This is why so many individuals do not know how to look, or understand how to divine motion from a state of tranquillity. The busy person only casts a brief glance from stone to stone to avoid stumbling - seeing is merely a means to an end". This special way of seeing, namely of looking, is not only the precondition applying to the works of Siegward Sprotte. In our observation and reception of this lyrical and delicate work we are challenged and animated to alter our own way of seeing. Sprotte sharpens our gaze and invites us to contemplate.
(Andrea Fink-Belgin)
