Neo Rauch by Michael Glover

Neo Rauch

Michael Glover

Lund Humphries

Now, here is an interesting one that might not necessarily be on everyone’s radar: Neo Rauch has come to prominence via subtly exposing political unjust and the decline of Western civilisation and alienation by channelling them through his multi-layered, dreamscape like scenarios that are heavily influenced by surrealism.

What I have come to appreciate with Rauch’s art is that there are nuances that are reminiscent of a wide range of archetypical artists, e.g. Dali, Richter, almighty Francis Bacon and Otto Dix. One could go as far as claiming that Rauch’s oeuvre is a smorgasbord of the who-is-who of the current art scene without falling prey to merely copying the originals.

This tome proves to be a great introduction to Neo Rauch with great full-colour reproductions of his major artistic emissions, along with the provision of interpretative elaborations that not only shed light on Rauch’s methodology but enrich and inform the view on Rauch’s idiosyncratic post-communist surrealist approach.

It is fascinating to see the references to the decade of the 1940s and how he weaves them in through the ages and draws on them while depicting contemporary elements, while basing his art on Social Realism, allusion to historical events and iconography that blends in with Romanticist and Baroque elements that have coined his formative years. The kicker with Neo Rauch is that by doing the he borderline created historically relevant moments in themselves.

This monograph provides a thorough examination of the paintings of an artist whose work has been informed by many and varied influences and whose artworks can be found across major museums across the globe.