Markus Fräger (1959-2020) - Ohne Titel

Beautiful, rare, and hand-signed screen print by the German artist Markus Fräger (1959–2020)


Markus Fräger (1959–2020)

Painters Between Reality and Staging

Markus Fräger was a German painter whose work is characterized by a unique fusion of realistic depictions and film-theatrical staging. Born in 1959 in Hamm (Westphalia), he developed an early interest in painting, photography, and music. In addition to his artistic work, he was also active as a musician, notably in the band KFC, which was part of the German punk and new wave scene of the 1980s.

Fräger's painterly body of work is defined by a strong affinity for the visual language of cinema—especially film noir—and for the aesthetics of past decades. His frequently large-scale paintings depict people in seemingly everyday, yet highly composed scenes. Light, shadow, posture, and directions of gaze are never random in Fräger's work—they create tension, ambiguity, and emotional depth.

The figures depicted resemble frozen protagonists of a non-existent film. The viewer becomes a co-director: they are invited to imagine storylines, interpret relationships, and fill in gaps. In this way, Fräger succeeds in blending traditional painting conventions with contemporary visual language – his works recall the old masters as well as photographs or film scenes.

Markus Fräger was part of the artist collective 'Kölner Realisten' and exhibited his works in numerous solo and group shows, including in Cologne, Berlin, Munich and internationally. He died in 2020 at the age of 61, but left behind an impressive œuvre that marks him as one of the most significant representatives of figurative painting of his generation.