Cornel Wachter
Sigmar Polke
PainterKnown for:
Capitalist Realism; the Rasterbilder paintings
Education:
Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (1961-1967, under Karl Otto Götz and Joseph Beuys)
Sigmar Polke co-founded Capitalist Realism with Gerhard Richter in the early 1960s, developing a satirical response to both American Pop Art and German consumer culture. His paintings combined advertising imagery, cartoon motifs, and hand-painted patterns - the Rasterbilder made by painting over halftone dot patterns - in a deliberately unstable, ironic style. He used unconventional and unstable materials including silver nitrate, arsenic, and meteorite dust that have caused many of his works to change over time.
Sigmar Polke's Gear List(1)
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Experimental alchemist who combined oil, lacquer, synthetic resin, and toxic pigments (arsenic, uranium) on polyester, patterned fabrics, and burlap
Product description
Oil paint — pigment suspended in a drying oil, typically linseed — has been the dominant painting medium since the fifteenth century. It dries slowly, allowing extended blending, and produces a rich, luminous surface. Available from dozens of manufacturers at student through professional grades.
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Last updated March 20, 2026
