Gerhard Altenbourg (1926 Rödichen-Schnepfenthal - 1989 Meissen) (F) 'In den Glanz hineingeglitten das Tier, beladen mit Wildwahn', mixed media on paper, sheet size 21 cm x 30.5 cm (the lower corners rounded), signed, dated 1978, numbered 'A 473' on the reverse, mounted to backing paper along the upper edge, with purchase receiptProvenance: Galerie Brusberg; private collection, HanoverGerhard Altenbourg was born Gerhard Ströch in Rödichen-Schnepfenthal on 22nd November 1926. He was one of the most important East German artists of the second half of the 20th century. His extensive and versatile oeuvre follows the tradition of Paul Klee and Alfred Kubin. After Altenbourg suffered traumatic experiences as a 17-year-old soldier in the war, he worked as a writer and journalist. He then studied at the Academy of Architecture and Fine Arts in Weimar from 1948 to 1950. In the mid-1950s he adopted the artist's pseudonym Altenbourg, after his adopted home.In addition to his artistic activities as a painter, graphic artist and sculptor, he also wrote over 1000 poems. Thus, the often lyrical titles of his works do not always provide an explanation of their contents, but simply accompany the paintings like an Asian Haiku. Resistant to both artistic fashions and ideological constraints, the Thuringian artist created his own private universe, in a kind of expanding "show of the inner shell" (Altenbourg). His pictures are not at once aesthetically pleasing, difficult to access, they hardly reveal themselves at first glance. But following longer contemplation they develop an immense suggestive power and become dear friends.