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Monk (Mönch)

Life size sculpture of a robed Christian monk, painted matte black.
© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

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  • Life size sculpture of a robed Christian monk, painted matte black.

Date:

1997/99

Artist:

Katharina Fritsch
German, born 1956

About this artwork

Katharina Fritsch roots her work in the personal, often drawing from childhood memories of familiar circumstances or chance encounters. At the same time, her references engage broad aspects of German folklore and culture through meticulous reproductions of quotidian objects, many of which she formally manipulates with shifts in scale and color. Her process is intensely time-consuming: molded by hand, each object is cast in plaster, reworked, and cast again, often in polyester or aluminum. The completed forms are then painted with highly saturated, matte, nonreflective colors that create a sense of otherworldliness. In Monk the artist took up the lone, brooding figure of a friar to encapsulate her fascination with Christian traditions and rituals and the mysterious medieval towns, such as Nuremberg and Bamberg, that she frequented in her youth.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Katharina Fritsch

Title

Monk (Mönch)

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1997–1999

Medium

Polyester and paint

Edition

2 of 2, plus 1 artist's proof

Dimensions

193 × 58.4 × 43.1 cm (76 × 23 × 17 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Anstiss and Ronald Krueck Collection

Reference Number

2000.49

Copyright

© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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