Lot 55 Dα

“When I am asked why I stick to concrete objects in my painting, I have to confess, somewhat perplexed, that this ‘why’ has never existed for me. The real artistic decisions are beyond such questions and doubts. [...] The compulsion to work, the rhythm of life according to the seasons and its very real concerns have always seemed to me more conducive to artistic creation than a hindrance, no matter how one might curse it at times. Every step fills those capable of seeing with perspective. The concern for growth, development, or destruction does not leave much space for the arbitrariness of dissecting or dissolving the ‘object’; the objects that are field and forest, flower and cattle, and repeatedly, mankind.” (Werner Berg, quoted in: Werner Berg, Gemälde, Klagenfurt 1994, p.7).
Werner Berg, who was born in Elberfeld (now part of Wuppertal), completed a commercial apprenticeship and studied constitutional law before breaking with his previous path in life, studying painting and settling in the secluded Carinthian lowlands (Austria) in 1930. With the management of his mountain farm and the accompanying immersion in the laws of nature and the harsh reality of the life of the locals, Berg discovered the foundations of his artistic expression, which was influenced by Expressionism and Magic Realism: he depicted the scenes of everyday rural life in reduced clear forms with defined contours and in bright colours. The ‘boys playing skittles' of the village are a frequently represented motif of the 1960s and 1970s. The artist transforms the various constellations of figures into exciting compositions, characterised by outlines in cool shades of blue and a magical atmosphere of light.