Degenhardt, Gertrude (1940-2025), Two Fantastic Scenes, 1970

Gertrude Degenhardt(1940 New York - 2025 Greifswald), Two Fantastic Scenes , 1970. Oil on hardboard, each 27.5 cm x 22.5 cm (pictures), 38 cm x 33 cm (frame), each signed “G. Degenhardt” and dated “[19]70” in the center below the horizon line, in old frames selected and co-designed by the artist.

- Image dreams -

In an olive-green world, a naked woman nestles against a horse. The coloring and limbs make them appear as one being, with the woman seemingly asleep while the animal stretches its head forward and sticks out its red tongue in a kind of defensive gesture. The horse notices the figure in the other picture, which at the same time seems to be dreamed by the woman. In a gray world, the creature appears like an all-consuming blackness from which an obviously dead goose protrudes, blood dripping from its beak. The eerie creature with the immense skull and aged face stretches the goose toward the horse and the woman. The red of the beak and blood and the red of the tongue and nipples further reinforce the connection, while the yellow forms a color accent opposite to the black.

The fantastical, grotesque juxtaposition invites viewers to develop stories and explore the meaning of the encounter. However, the creatures become increasingly enigmatic, which lends them a magical effect.

The artist has colored the broken edges of the frames to match the respective color scheme, allowing the colors to penetrate the frame and continue beyond it.

About the artist

Born in New York, Gertrude Degenhardt grew up in Berlin after World War II. From 1956 onwards, she lived in Mainz, where she studied commercial art at the State School of Applied Arts. She worked as a freelance artist from 1966 onwards. At the end of the 1970s, she discovered the Irish west coast as an inspiring region and from then on commuted between Rheinhessen and Ireland. She created enigmatic, comically grotesque graphics and paintings and illustrated numerous books. These included titles by Hugh O'Flaherty, Bertolt Brecht, Wolf Biermann, and François Villon.

The artist, who has been featured in international exhibitions, has received numerous awards. Among others, she received the Graphic Biennial Prize in Krakow (1968) and Fredrikstad (1976), the Order of Merit of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (2001), and the Hannes Gaab Prize of the City of Mainz (2019).