Hope is: Wanting to Pull Clouds

1992

Sigmar Polke

Painter, German, 1941 - 2010

A person, outlined in black, lassos two puffy clouds with long ropes, all against an abstract patchwork of rectangles in the background of this horizontal painting. Many of the rectangles are cream white and others are muted tones of pink, beige, tan, and blue. Some darker sage-green, violet, and brick-red rectangles are scattered across the bottom of the composition. A narrow band across the top of the painting is made up of triangles in pale blues, yellows, and pinks. The person is drawn with thin black lines and superimposed over the background. This person stands on the right side of the canvas facing our left, almost in profile. His feet are widely planted and his knees bent. His mouth is wide open, and his curly, shoulder-length hair hides his eyes. He wears a floppy cap on the back of his head. His costume has long sleeves underneath a jerkin-style jacket and loose, knee-length pants. A dagger hangs off his belt on his right hip, and a small pouch hangs near his left hip. His arms extend straight out in front of his body, with a thick, twisted rope wrapped around each forearm. He pulls the ropes taut to catch clouds in the upper center and lower left. A few wisps of clouds fill the upper left corner. A small sailboat floats near the center of the composition on a horizon line that bisects the canvas. Near the boat, swirls and streaks of sky and navy blue, crimson red, and sunflower yellow funnel from a wide base along the left edge of the canvas to a narrow band across the center.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    polyester resin and acrylic on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of the Collectors Committee

  • Dimensions

    overall: 300 x 500.4 cm (118 1/8 x 197 in.)
    framed: 301 x 500.5 x 4.4 cm (118 1/2 x 197 1/16 x 1 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1993.59.1


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Helen van der Meij, London, England) by 1993;[1] sold 16 November 1993 to NGA.
[1] Helen van der Meij is the artist's agent.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1992

  • Sigmar Polke, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1992, no. 39, color repro. 122.

Wikidata ID

Q20198027


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