Ralf Altrieth (1966) - Übung Hindurch Kucken

Ralf Altrieth (Heilbronn, 1966).

An acrylic painting on paper marouflaged onto melamine wood, 'Übung Hindurch Kucken', 2014

65 x 50 cm. The work is ready to hang.

SOLD by: Recodier Art - agent, France

DOCUMENTATION :

A dated and signed certificate of authenticity is included.

DESCRIPTION :

Signed on the back 'Ralf Altrieth' with a black felt-tip pen.
Marked in front of 'RA 14' with black paint.

This painting on marouflaged paper features a fragmented face, constructed from broad swathes of color and a freely expressive, almost instinctive gesture. The portrait is not descriptive in the classical sense: it proceeds through deconstruction and reassembly, allowing multiple planes and multiple expressions to coexist within a single figure.

The palette is dominated by blues, greens, and ochres, energized by brighter accents (yellow, pink), which rhythm the surface and guide the eye. The strokes are deliberately discontinuous, sometimes abrupt, giving the face a presence that is at once raw and expressive, almost animalistic, never becoming caricatured.

The gaze, multiplied and asymmetrical, creates a strong visual tension: it suggests an unstable interiority, a mental state more than a definite identity. The whole evokes a painting of the moment, where gesture takes precedence over control, in an approach close to Expressionism and free figuration.

This painting is part of a series of about fifty unique works.

NOTE: There is a slight edge bulge/protrusion, characteristic of marouflage on wood. No detachment; the artwork is stable and in good condition. (See photo.)

Ralf Altrieth (born in 1966 in Heilbronn, Germany) is a German painter and musician living in France since 2006. He has been expressing himself for more than thirty years through a plural artistic practice, which includes painting, drawing, linocut, installations, sculpture and photography, as well as contemporary music and jazz.

Very early drawn to the visual arts, he takes private lessons with painter Georg Schaible at the age of 14, before joining the Nürtingen Academy of Fine Arts from 1987 to 1989. In parallel, he discovers and practices the saxophone and jazz from the age of 20.

The career of Ralf Altrieth is defined by total artistic freedom: from his early days he has claimed an autonomy of creation that is expressed through a wide diversity of media and artistic languages.

He has lived and worked in several European cities — including Berlin, Freiburg, Erlangen, Paris and Venice — before settling permanently in the south of France, where he develops his practice.

Ralf Altrieth has exhibited in numerous galleries and cultural venues in France and abroad, including the Hartmut Beck Gallery in Erlangen, MAC Paris, the Galerie Théo de Seine in Paris, Galerie N5 in Montpellier, the Château d’Assas, and other art spaces. His works are in private collections in Europe and beyond.

In addition to his visual practice, he is the co-founder of the music label Meta Records and has collaborated with many musicians, often incorporating music as a source of inspiration into his visual work.

His work is frequently described as living at the intersection of gestural expressionism, neo-expressionism, and lyrical abstraction, where line and color function as a form of writing that explores movement, spontaneity, and intuitive narration.