BALKENHOL, STEPHAN
1957 Fritzlar

Title: Denker.
Date: 2022.
Technique: Bronze, patinated and polychromed.
Measurement: 65 x 27 x 27cm .
Notation: Signed, dated and numbered on the underside of the plinth: St. Balkenhol 2022 – 20/25. American Images Edition, New York (publisher). Copy: 20/25.


The work is part of an edition of 25 copies plus 5 artist's proofs.



A certificate signed by the artist is provided with the work.



Provenance:
- - Private collection California/USA



- A leading contemporary sculptor who exhibits internationally

- Bronze with a polychrome finish, translating the characteristic aesthetic of wood into metal

- An impressive reinterpretation of the art-historical motif of ‘The Thinker’ in a contemporary style



Stephan Balkenhol is one of the leading contemporary sculptors and is internationally renowned. From 1976 to 1982, he studied at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts under Ulrich Rückriem and was awarded the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Scholarship early in his career. His work has been known to a wide audience at least since his participation in the “Skulptur Projekte Münster” in 1987. After teaching in Frankfurt am Main, he became a professor at the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. Numerous honors, including the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, underscore his significance. At the center of his work is the human figure, which he depicts in a deliberately reduced form. Balkenhol works primarily with wood, from which he carves his figures with rough strokes; his sculptures, most of which are painted, visibly retain the traces of this process and combine traditional sculpture with a contemporary, distinctive formal language.

The bronze work “Denker” (2022) depicts a standing male figure resting one hand on his chin while the other arm is crossed in front of his body. The gaze directed straight ahead and the calm posture evoke a moment of quiet, concentrated reflection. The title deliberately takes up the art-historically charged motif of the “Thinker” without adopting the iconic pose, translating it into a sober, contemporary appearance. Instead of heroic grandeur, we encounter an everyday figure in a jacket, shirt, and pants. The colored finish contrasts with the rough, irregular surface, in which traces of the working process are deliberately left visible. In the bronze, Balkenhol imitates the characteristic appearance of his wooden sculptures and transfers their handcrafted structure into the metal. Thus, the work combines material tradition and transformation and exemplifies his ongoing engagement with the human figure as a timeless visual motif



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This lot will be sold under standard taxation (Condition of Sale §V5.1)







In accordance with §26 UrhG (German Copyright Act), VAN HAM is obliged to pay a statutory resale royalty on the sale proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography whose authors have not been deceased for 70 years prior to the end of the calendar year of the sale. The buyer shall contribute 1.5% of the hammer price to this fee.