Stefan Szczesny (1951) - Mustique 15

Stefan Szczesny - “Mustique 15”, 2013

Caribbean color poetry in a monumental format

With “Mustique 15” an unusually large-format color lithograph by Stefan Szczesny from 2013 comes up for auction. The work belongs to that group of works in which the artist translates his intense engagement with the Caribbean island of Mustique into an expressive, colorful visual language.

Lush nature, tropical light, and the notion of a paradisiacal place are not depicted naturalistically by Szczesny. Instead, he transforms the impressions of the island into flowing contours, luminous color fields, and forms that appear ornamental. The unusual large format heightens the impact of the composition and makes the lithograph appear almost like a monumental painting.

Artist: Stefan Szczesny (1951)
Title: Mustique 15
Year: 2013
Technique: Color lithography
Paper: Velin
Edition: 50 copies
Signature: hand-signed bottom right
Numbering: see bottom left, photos
Sheet size: approx. 61 × 49 cm
Condition: very good, used condition. See photos

Mustique – a place between nature and paradise

Mustique occupies a special position in Stefan Szczesny’s artistic cosmos. The artist first visited the Caribbean island in 1995. The intense tropical vegetation, the light, and the particular atmosphere of the island became important sources of inspiration for his artistic work.

In his Mustique works, the aim is not a documentary representation of the landscape. Szczesny condenses his impressions into an idealized world of color, nature, and sensuality. Vegetation becomes an ornament, blossoms and leaves become rhythmic forms, and the landscape appears as a poetic vision of an earthly paradise.

Artistic language

Characteristic of Szczesny’s works is the combination of expressive color with clear, flowing contours. His visual language is sensuous, life-affirming, and strongly influenced by French Modernism.

In particular, Henri Matisse provides an important artistic reference. As Matisse does, Szczesny uses color and ornamental forms not only to depict the visible world but as independent means of expression.

In Mustique 15, this aesthetic stance is fused with the tropical nature of the Caribbean. The result is a visual world that sits between Neo-Expressionism, Mediterranean joie de vivre, and exotic experiences of nature.

Stefan Szczesny, born 1951 in Munich, is among the significant representatives of German Neo-Expressionism and became especially known in the milieu of the so-called “Neue Wilde” (New Wild Ones).

His versatile oeuvre includes painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and monumental sculpture. Recurring motifs are flowers, plants, female figures, landscapes, and Mediterranean ways of life.

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