Markus Lüpertz (born 1941 Liberec) "Study for a sculpture XVIII". Original title Depiction of the ancient hero with the club and fur of the Nemean lion, sketched with energetic strokes in red, orange and dark green and interwoven with broad, partly running traces of ink. Lüpertz, who has a preference for ancient mythology and the Dionysian associated with it, produced a sculpture of Hercules in 2003, for which the present sheet is probably a preliminary study. After completing his studies at the Düsseldorf Academy and a year as a freelance artist there, Lüpertz moved to Berlin and began his actual career as a painter. From 1973 to 1986 he taught at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and from 1988 to 2009 he was rector of the State Academy of Art in Düsseldorf. Lüpertz is one of the most important contemporary German artists and, alongside Baselitz, Immendorff and Penck, is one of the most important representatives of Neo-Expressionism, from which the so-called "Neue Wilden" emerged around 1980. India ink and grease crayon/paper. R. a. monogr. (circled); gallery label verso. 50 cm x 35 cm. Frame. Provenance: Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin; Auction Van Ham, Cologne, 03.12.2009, lot 648. Indian ink and grease chalk in colours on paper. Monogrammed. Gallery label on the reverse.