Ralf Altrieth - Sans titre - XL

Acrylic and spray on heavy paper, ivory tone
75 x 105 cm (with margins)

Signed and dated on the back by the artist
Certificate of authenticity signed by Ralf Altrieth

DESCRIPTION:

This original work on paper by Ralf Altrieth unfolds a universe populated by hybrid figures and characters who appear, overlap, and transform as one’s gaze passes over them. Some seem recognizable, others remain deliberately undefined. Yet all seem to possess their own character, as if they belonged to a world whose rules only they knew.

The spontaneous lines, flat areas, and touches of color mingle in a dense composition, where the gesture remains visible. The spray adds to the surface a fine, granular, almost tactile texture, which contrasts with the crisper lines and flat areas of the drawing.

Between free figuration, instinctive drawing, and graphic poetry, the work does not seek to tell a precise story. It rather invites the imagination to establish its own associations. The eye moves from creature to creature, discovers a face, a silhouette, or an unexpected detail, then returns to the whole, which seems to recompose itself with every gaze.

Framed with a wide mat, it takes on its full dimension and leaves around it a breathing space that emphasizes the richness of the drawing. At once expressive, mysterious, and playful, it brings to a contemporary interior a singular artistic presence, never reduced to a mere decorative effect.

At the boundary between drawing and painting, this series bears witness to a deeply personal language of Ralf Altrieth: a world in perpetual metamorphosis, where a few lines suffice to give birth to an entire world.

CRITIQUE:

"There is a great deal of poetry in this painting, as in all the artist’s works. They are populated with narrative codes and fantastical tales. In that sense, Ralf Altrieth’s pictorial poems are a pure childlike chant... But the most astonishing thing that manifests in these paintings is a communicative tenderness for the states of mind of human beings."
— Dr. Friedhelm Häring, museum director and art historian

"His writing through gesture and color describes a world open to new voices and to experiments never attempted. His canvases and works on paper demonstrate that painting remains a major expression of the contemporary scene."
— Laurent Puech, art historian and curator

BIOGRAPHY:

Ralf Altrieth (Heilbronn, 1966) is a Franco-German painter and musician renowned for his expressive and spontaneous universe, at the boundary between figuration and abstraction. Trained in his teens under painter Georg Schaible and then at the Nürtingen University of Fine Arts in the late 1980s, his work is distinguished by a rare pictorial energy and a particularly sensitive language. His works are now held in numerous private collections around the world.

SHIPPING:

The work will be shipped rolled in a sturdy tube to ensure safe transport.
It is entrusted to an express carrier providing home delivery with full tracking and signature on delivery, to guarantee the best protection of the artwork until it is handed over to the recipient.

NOTE ABOUT THE MARGINS:
There are two presentation options for this work:
- With mat: the outer margins of the paper will be hidden by the mat.
- Without mat with a frame 70 × 100 cm (see situational visuals): place the glass on the paper and trim the margins with a cutter. A pencil line helps identify the limit easily.

Note: The situational images are presentation suggestions created with AI based on photographs of the actual artwork. The photos of the real object are authoritative (the full work, close-up details, and the back signature). The tones may vary slightly depending on your screen’s color profile.