Claus Bertermann - LILIUMS XXL

Artist: Claus Bertermann

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.bertermann.art

Claus Bertermann is an internationally established contemporary artist whose market profile is backed by international market authority and exceptional secondary market results. Known for his powerful, large-format abstract works, Bertermann has consistently commanded high-tier prices at the world’s most prestigious auction houses. His top realized prices include €18,900 at C. h. r. i. s. t. i. e´s Paris (Retro Zen), €15,240 at S. o. t. h. e. b. y´s Cologne (F5TP#CB), and €15,120 at C. h. r. i. s. t. i. e´s Paris (Whispershade). With additional successful sales at V. a. n. H. a. m, A. r. t. c. u. r. i. a. l, T. a. j. a. n, and D. o. r. o. t. h. e. u. m, Bertermann’s work is a proven asset for serious collectors worldwide.

From Architectural Abstraction to the Human Form

With a Master’s degree in Architecture (TU Munich), Bertermann originally gained global recognition for his "architectural strata" technique—layering and scraping oil paint to build spatial depth. Today, he brings this same structural intensity to his figurative practice. His figurative works are not mere depictions but explorations of presence and transience, blending his architectural precision with a raw, Neo-Expressionist energy.

International Artistic Footprint

With more than 1,000 large format works in private and institutional collections across the globe—including a monumental triptych at his alma mater, the Technical University of Munich—Bertermann continues to bridge the gap between rigorous structure and intuitive freedom. This Catawiki offering presents a rare opportunity to acquire an original figurative work from an artist with a solidified international auction record.

Key details for collectors

– Title: LILIUMS XXL
– Year: 2026
– Dimensions (H x W): 150 x 240 cm (59 × 94 inches)
– Medium: Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
– Signed by the artist on the front and back side
– Original, one-of-a-kind artwork - MADE BY A REAL PERSON, NOT AI.
– Ships rolled without frame

What makes this piece unique

"Liliums XXL" gives the most ceremonious flower in art a stage nearly two and a half metres wide—and then refuses to let it behave. The lily, that veteran of altarpieces and tasteful still lifes, is dragged out into full daylight, blown up to monumental scale, and painted in colors that no botanist would sign off on: neon orange petals, acid-yellow throats, hot-pink edges, all flung open against a jungle of electric green and deep blue. It is less a flower study than a flower riot.

The honest thing about the painting is that the lilies are a pretext. Bertermann says so plainly: the true subject is not the flower but the act of painting it. The botany is just the excuse that gets the hand moving—the rolled-on grounds, the long blue drips that bleed downward, the white oil-stick contours that wander off the edges of the petals they were meant to describe. What is recorded on this canvas is not a garden but a sequence of fast, irreversible decisions, scaled up until they fill the room.

This is the larger and more panoramic of two paintings made together on the same subject—the wide companion to the square "Liliums XL." Where the smaller canvas presses one great bloom up close, this one lets the whole bed run from edge to edge: several star-shaped lilies presiding over a teeming undergrowth of buds, stems and shadow. It is the same garden, given room to sprawl.

Why it is worth the price

This is a monumental, museum-sized painting (150 x 240 cm) built through a deliberately physical process. The acrylic ground is rolled and brushed in broad, fast movements across a surface wide enough to demand whole-body gestures; the contours are then drawn directly in oil stick, sitting visibly on top of the color rather than dissolving into it. At this scale the duality that defines Bertermann's figurative work becomes architectural: raw construction across a panoramic field, held in tension by confident, immediate line.

Large horizontal works of this caliber are comparatively rare and disproportionately effective as wall-defining statements—exactly the kind of piece that anchors a major room or institutional space. "Liliums XXL" delivers that presence while keeping the loose, exuberant energy of a work made in a single confident push.

The piece reflects Bertermann's ongoing interest in the painted gesture as the true subject of the work, making it both visually commanding and conceptually grounded for collectors.

Visual description & condition

The wide composition is led by several large stylized lily blossoms in luminous orange and apricot, their star-shaped petals outlined in white, yellow and hot pink oil stick, spread across the upper register against vivid green foliage and a deep blue ground. Below them, a dense band of small orange bud-clusters rises on dark, drawn stems out of an olive-green and near-black undergrowth that runs along the lower edge; passages of lavender and blue open up the mid-zone. Long blue and violet drip-lines fall vertically through the scene. The blooms are deliberately simplified and flattened, prioritizing rhythm, scale and color energy over botanical accuracy.

The acrylic surface remains open and visibly worked, showing the marks of the roller and wide brush. The oil-stick lines sit clearly on top, keeping their independence from the painted ground. The work is signed "Bertermann" in blue at the lower right.

The work is unframed and not stretched. Condition is excellent. All surface irregularities are intentional and integral to the artist's process.

Background / artistic context

Claus Bertermann works within contemporary expressive figurative painting, focusing on states of being and the act of painting rather than faithful representation. In this body of work the chosen motif—here, lilies—functions only as an occasion for paint to move. By separating painterly gesture (acrylic rolled and brushed) from drawing (oil-stick contours), he stages a dialogue between body and surface, control and release—amplified, in this canvas, by sheer width.

"Liliums XXL" is one of two paintings created as a pair on this subject, alongside the square "Liliums XL." Together they let the same garden breathe at two different scales, and make plain the artist's central claim: it was never about the lilies.

Practical details for buyers:

Original, one-of-a-kind artwork
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
Dimensions (H x W): 150 x 240 cm (59 × 94 inches)
Signed by the artist on the front and back side
Certificate of authenticity included
Shipped rolled (not framed or stretched)
Professional packaging and worldwide shipping with premium shipping companies like UPS.

The canvas includes an additional continuous white border of approximately 10 cm (approx. 4 inches) on all sides beyond the painted surface. This margin allows the artwork to be professionally restretched on museum-quality stretcher bars up to 6 cm (approx. 2.4 inches) in depth, resulting in a clean, frameless, gallery-style presentation without the need for a decorative frame.

Please note that the artwork is sold unframed and without stretcher bars. Professional stretching is the responsibility of the buyer. The painting is shipped rolled for safe international transport and flexible installation according to the buyer's preference.

The artwork is signed on both front and reverse, with title, year, and the artist's full name inscribed on the back.