Rothaar, Oeuvre Werkschau joe

›  What's the point here?

Werner Stürenburg was a German mathematician who became a painter, graphic artist and sculptor, bequeathing an oeuvre of some 700 works, the bulk of which was executed in the years 1972 - 1978 and 1983 - 1985, his 24th - 30th and 35th - 37th year. His last work was created in 1997.

This site serves to introduce to his oeuvre to the extent it is documented photographically and to track his development to my best knowledge by giving comments as time permits. None of these works is for sale.

On the contrary, there is great interest in reuniting the entire work. So if you are in possession of one or more of his works, please » contact me, even if there is no interest in selling them now.

A first introduction to his work in form of an interview and a short resume is given in Credo .

› Signature explains why he signed as /Signature. Short version: is nobody. doesn't even have a surname. This again has to do with his experience of painting.

With great difficulty, I had learned to abandon myself to the creative process, that is, to not want anything and just let it happen, but to be constantly on my guard to do the right thing. How should this be decided? Who decides what is right? This question is tantamount to the question: Who paints? I certainly don't. I just feel and behave. I could never think up something like that in my life. I would have no idea how I would manage such a task

Quote from his essay » Altar


To 196 works, up to the number » 225, there are comments by the artist that trace his path. The most interesting thing, of course, is to look at the reproductions. I am always surprised at how funny many of his works are. I would particularly like to recommend the » sculptures and » prints. Although they are only a small group within the oeuvre, they are particularly close to my heart.

As an introduction to his work, a small slideshow with 43 (more or less similar) self-portraits. Although this group is insignificant, it is interesting in that it marks his breakthrough, i.e. the realization that the will is an obstacle to the creative process. However, internalizing this insight and trusting in the power of the creative took some time, however.

 » /11 · © Copyright Werner Popken. Alle Kunstwerke / all artwork © CC BY-SA
  » No. 11 Übung: Kuli / Practice: pen (06.09.1972 II)

← manuell steuern / control manually →


Art is a means of self-knowledge, a mirror of the soul, a plan to the self, to God, to perfection. The artist walks his path like the pilgrim or monk, leaving behind images and signs that are a help to those who can see on their own path.

Quote from his speech » Art and the right half of the brain from March 15, 1984


For the works » 193, » 194, » 195 up to » 223, » 224, » 225 there is a comparison with old masters, called Louvre Probe after the famous test for Picasso that was organized in the Louvre in 1944 (see » » Françoise Gilot: Life with Picasso). The power and strength of a work is only revealed in direct comparison, and Picasso was very interested in measuring himself against the great masters.

Every judgment about art is the result of a comparison which mostly takes place in the unconscious. An increase of the impression is achieved by contrasting effects. Having seen a picture of G. Dou and turning the eye to Rembrandt afterwards, certain characteristics of Rembrandt emerge, whereas turning to Rembrandt from Titian, I get a different impression.

Experimenting in this way is a recommended practice. The further to place, time, or the individual character the works of art are we confront, the sharper the respective temporal and spatial properties appear; the closer they are located, the easier it is to perceive subtle differences, such as to delineate the master against his skillful imitators.

» Max J. Friedländer: Von Kunst und Kennerschaft (On Art and Connoisseurship) p. 118, Ullstein 1957 own translation


The commentaries on his paintings, if they exist, are very differently elaborated. Of particular interest is the very detailed and insightful » commentary on 172, which makes it clear how he subsequently came to terms with Picasso and Rembrandt and gradually worked his way up to the living environments and the Louvre sample.

In the very detailed » commentary on 193, an inconspicuous work that requires explanation, he deals, to his own astonishment, at length with the question of what it is actually about.

Through the afterword to "The Art Instinct" by » Dennis Dutton it seems to him that the core of art is the longing for something that cannot be properly named . This sentence leads him to a philosophical novel by » Robert Pirsig, with which he has been very occupied for many years: » Zen and the art of maintaining a motorcycle.

Through an interjection from someone who intuitively perceived his works as a search for God, he comes across Luther and his essay "On the Freedom of a Christian" and it finally becomes clear to him what the secret of his art is.

"[...] one blind man always leads another, they torture themselves with many works and yet never come to right righteousness." (Martin Luther, 1520, On the Freedom of a Christian)

And me? How did I create my works? Pure of heart, like a foolish fool. » Duden: dumb: guileless-unconcerned, simple-minded-naive. Exactly. And yet these pictures don't actually seem naïve, but rather poignant, they are serious, they don't want to make fun of anyone, they don't want to make fun of anything, but rather explore the truth.

Quote from his » commentary on 193 from 01.10.2012



*Gift of » © Dr. J. Raasch




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