Sigmar Polke | Higher Beings Command

Sigmar Polke
Higher Beings Command
Berlin, Germany: Edition Rene Block, 1968
[14] pp., 35 x 24 cm., loose leaves
Edition of 80 [+ 10 AP] signed and numbered copies

René Block opened a gallery in Berlin in 1964 at the age of 22 , exhibiting works by Gerhard Richter, Wolf Vostell, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik and Sigmar Polke, who was still a student at the time. Polke was recommended to the gallery by Richter, who described him as “a Pop Artist like [Konrad] Lueg and me.” His first solo exhibition was held at the gallery in 1966.

This edition, from two years later, is a collaboration with Christof Kohlhöfer. The work consists of a suite of fourteen offset lithographs in black ink on beige paper, with the original title of Hoehere Wesen befehlen. They are accompanied by a text sheet and housed in a cloth-covered cardboard portfolio, with a pastedown title label on the front board and colophon label on the verso.

The images feature the artist in staged comedic settings, accompanied by mock-serious captions. Polke als Palme (Polke as Palm Tree) features the artist in his underwear in a crudely made costume. In Peitsche (Whip) a cat-o'-nine tails is altered to include portraits of Polke at the end of each 'claw'. The caption explains that the artist's grimacing face can be used to whip whatever one choses.

The work sells for upwards of thirty thousand dollars now. A special edition of 50 also included four drawings.