Markus Lüpertz – The artistic genius with a penchant for self-promotion

Markus Lüpertz was born in Reichenberg in April 1941, in the middle of the war. Since May 1945, Reichenberg has been part of the re-established Czechoslovakia under the name Liberec. The Lüpertz family subsequently fled to the Rhineland in 1948.

After this traumatic experience in his early youth, Lüpertz's career started hesitantly, but soon became all the more impactful: After being dismissed from an apprenticeship as a painter of bottle labels due to "lack of talent" and his second apprenticeship with a graphic designer failed due to the latter's bankruptcy, he decided to pursue an academic career instead.

Which certainly made reference to the craft-based foundations of art: Lüpertz had chosen the Krefeld School of Applied Arts as his place of study, where he received instruction that encompassed all facets of the performing arts.

During his studies (1956 to 1961) he also worked in construction, experienced, according to his own account, a “fanatically religious time” during a study stay at the Maria Laach monastery and spent a semester at the Düsseldorf Art Academy.

Lüpertz's work during his brief time at the academy failed to impress his professors. The artist himself later described his time at the academy as a "huge fiasco," and from 1961 onward, he tried his luck as a freelance artist in Düsseldorf. Perhaps success didn't come quickly enough, or perhaps adventure beckoned: Lüpertz set off for France with friends, where he intended to sign on to a ship.

Since no car was running at the time and he had no money, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion instead. He then realized that basic training there could lead to combat deployment, and when he was about to be sent to Algeria, he deserted.

Lüpertz then moved to West Berlin, which spared him further military service in his homeland, and allowed him to steer his artistic career in a more successful direction. In 1964, together with 15 students from the Berlin University of the Arts (including Hans Jürgen Burggaller, Karl Horst Hödicke, Peter Sorge, and Arnulf Spengler), he founded one of the first of the so-called producer galleries, a gallery run by the artists themselves, named after its address "Großgörschen 35".

Lüpertz was now able to record his first successes: in 1969 the director of the Baden-Baden art gallery presented him in a talent show, in 1970 he received the Villa Romana Prize, which was associated with a one-year scholarship in Florence, and in 1974 Lüpertz organized the 1st Berlin Biennale.

Berlin's political life, the 1968 movement, remained rather alien to him; after his departure, he described his view of Berlin in a poem as follows: “Dark Berlin defined my life – The cold nights and unheated studios – The main street, the corner pub, the lack of fame.” Regarding his destination, he wrote: “And Karlsruhe beckoned me, the thirty-year-old – And the city and its possibilities switched on the light – Warmed me with southern charm – And idyllic squares.”

This was after Lüpertz had accepted a professorship in painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe ; however, the Baden coziness would help him to greater fame:

Until 1986, he was a professor in Karlsruhe, then moved to the Düsseldorf Art Academy, becoming its rector in 1988. There he enjoyed a long tenure, leading this art institution, one of Germany's most important academies, for over 20 years. Most of the Documenta participants originated fromhere, and Lüpertz filled vacant positions with artists such as Jörg Immendorff, Jannis Kounellis, Rosemarie Trockel, AR Penck, Tal R, Jeff Wall, Albert Oehlen, Georg Herold, Tony Cragg, and Peter Doigg.

In discussions about university reforms, Lüpertz always referred to his origins in a school of applied arts; he taught beginners strict instruction in basic craftsmanship and enforced the preservation of the class system for art colleges in Germany (largely maintained to this day).

Today Lüpertz lives and works in Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf, Teltow near Berlin, and Florence.Prices for his paintings are only available upon request; screen prints sell for four-figure sums, and his tiny sculptures cost more than some small cars—you could say he's doing very well.

Perhaps the works that Lüpertz has created as a painter, graphic artist, and sculptor truly as extraordinary as many art world insiders perceive them to be. Perhaps the smooth trajectory of his career also has something to do with the fact that Markus Lüpertz is not exactly one of the most modest artists of our time.

If it's true that those who make the most noise rightfully receive the most attention, then Markus Lüpertz is undeniably highly gifted. Even in his early years, pronouncements like "There's no way around it, there's no remedy against me" (1973) could be heard from him, and sentences like "The artist is the best, most beautiful, and greatest thing society has" frequently crossed the lips of the "genius," as he likes to call himself—and by that, he primarily means himself.

However, today, when we are inundated with companies and people who claim great things about themselves, we have also learned that the highest quality is not necessarily hidden behind the self-promotion of the loudest.

Thus, Lüpertz's works also have many critics who, for example, accuse him of a "motivic Tourette syndrome" and sometimes describe him as a "shrewd self-promoter, fashionista and photo poser, master of digressions and director of sloppiness".

It is fortunate, then, that Lüpertz is not particularly interested in criticism anyway – just as he demanded nothing more than “submission and admiration” from his students, he is completely indifferent to what others think of him.