Markus Lüpertz (b. 1941, Liberec, Bohemia) is an internationally celebrated painter and sculptor whose work blends figuration and abstraction. His sculptures often refer to the canon of art history, from Greek antiquity to the Renaissance.

Lüpertz’s bronze sculpture, Judith, represents the Biblical (apocryphal) heroine by the same name: a strong-minded widow set out to defeat the conquerors of her hometown Bethulia. With devious intentions and alluring beauty she manages to seduce and behead the enemy general, Holofernes, which in turn results in her enemies’ dispersal. Lüpertz’s Judith, with characteristics such as an elongated neck, oversized head and bulky silhouette, does not outwardly resemble a classical beauty. These formal qualities instead represent a different sculptural tradition in which the simplification of certain shapes is contrasted by the enhancement of others. Her rough appearance and inner strength is unlike anything else in Ekebergparken and is an engaging and important contribution to the park’s permanent collection. 

Judith, 1995

Bronze

© Markus Lüpertz / BONO 2017