Per Kirkeby. Paintings 1978-1989af Ane Hejlskov Larsen

Since the early sixties, the Danish painter Per Kirkeby (born 1938) has been recognized globally for his extensive and original works. This book is about Per Kirkeby’s breakthrough on to the international art scene, which took place between 1978 and 1989. In addition, the publication contains a complete catalogue of the paintings, the overpaintings and the blackboards from the period. This book is a continuation of the first 500-pages critical work by Ane Hejlskov Larsen, associate Professor in Art History and Museology. Per Kirkeby. Malerier 1957-1977 (vol I) was published in Danish at Borgens Forlag in 2002 and in English at Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König in 2004. Volume I contains a complete catalogue of Per Kirkeby’s paintings, overpaintings and blackboards from 1957 till 1977.
Volume II covers Per Kirkeby’s international breakthrough. In five chapters, Ane Hejlskov Larsen provides an overview of Per Kirkeby’s paintings from this period. During the decade Per Kirkeby becomes Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, opens several solo exhibitions at renowned European galleries and museums and participates in a number of group exhibitions with leading artist groups. Kirkeby abandons the square shaped masonite paintings from the sixties and seventies and turns to large canvases and dramatic figure compositions, which is soon followed by a conceptual cubism.
Inspired by European art history and his own experiences with sculptures, Per Kirkeby develops new motives and phases in his paintings. He becomes part of the art environment surrounding the German gallery owner Michael Werner in Cologne. In Denmark, Per Kirkeby develops a special relationship to Aars, a town in the northern part of the country. The local museum, Himmerlands Kunstmuseum, curates an annual exhibition during the 1980’ies. And from here Per Kirkeby’s Danish audience is able to follow his work.
The second half of the book contains six surveys based on the extensive source materials from Danish and German archives. Among the surveys is a complete catalogue of the 630 paintings, 80 blackboards and 34 overpaintings from the period. Furthermore, an appendix to Volume I is added with paintings turned up after the publication in 2002. The paintings are supplemented by information about each painting’s exhibition history and provenance from the catalogue. Another survey accounts for each of Per Kirkeby’s exhibitions in this period, including press coverage and the reception of his works into the contemporary view on art. Anne Hejlskov Larsen compares these curatorial interpretational approaches with Kirkeby’s own views and perceptions. Kirkeby’s perceptions of his own art and the art scene in general are indicated in the survey accounting for his publications and in various quotations from his dairies in the biographical survey. The six surveys are visually divided by pages with inspiring drawings and photographic materials from the period, some of it from Per Kirkeby’s personal archives.