Mythical artist
Blinky Palermo is the artistic name of Peter Heisterkamp, who adopted it in 1964. The name refers to an American mafioso and boxing promoter, whom Heisterkamp is said to have resembled. He has become a mythical figure, who, like Van Gogh, was a rising star who died at an early age.
Palermo is one of the most important German artists of the 1960s and 1970s. His work is considered a high point of post-war abstract art. His work revolves around the tension between painting and sculpture. As such, he underscores his relationship with American minimal art, particularly Donald Judd.
Eye-catcher
Ohne Titel is a key piece within Palermo's oeuvre, a prototype for later experiments with the (blue) triangle. The combination of two elements, one of which an unfathomably deep blue triangle and the other a mirrored surface, makes Ohne Titel a real eye-catcher.
Ohne Titel is an object painting. Object paintings are often relatively small, clearly hand-made paintings with an unusual shape, often consisting of several parts. Themes such as architecture and space play an important role here.
In keeping with Helene Kröller-Müller
Ohne Titel is the highly desirable and long-awaited addition to the collection of abstract and conceptual art. This acquisition represents a much-needed deepening and establishes a link between Helene Kröller-Müller's collection of pre-war art and the collection of post-war modern art. It also opens the way to artists of a younger generation. Because Palermo was active in both America and Europe, his work forms a bridge between the two continents.
For the first time in a Dutch museum
The addition of this object painting by Palermo makes the Kröller-Müller the first and only museum in the Netherlands where visitors can become acquainted with his work.
Ohne Titel is a first step towards the new collection presentation at the Kröller-Müller Museum. The work is now on display in the museum's permanent collection exhibit. Initially, it will be shown together with a work by Donald Judd, in the company of paintings by Piet Mondriaan and Bart van der Leck.
The purchase was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Mondriaan Fund, the public fund for visual arts and cultural heritage and the Rembrandt Association ( jointly thanks to its A. Quist-Rütter Fonds, its Helze Fonds and its Themafonds Naoorlogse en Hedendaagse kunst) and participants of The FriendsLottery.