Imi Knoebel

(1940-PRESENT)
 Introduction:

Originally Born Klaus Wolf Knoebel, Imi Knoebel is a German artist known for his minimalist
abstract paintings and sculptures.

Knoebel is often linked to the Bauhaus school of art for his exploration of total art, the
practice of combining both fine and craft art together within a singular piece, the end goal
being the indistinguishability between a pieces form and function.

Knoebels overall oeuvre is generally speaking fairly eclectic, however general trends and
developments can be identified. His earliest works are expressly monochromatic. One of
Knoebels earliest and most profound influencers was Kazimir Malevich, particularly his
piece Black Square, which led Knoebel has said gave him the overwhelming feeling that I
could start at nothing.

It was his friend Blinky Palermos influence who inspired him to start working with the bright
vibrant colours that he is now so well known for.
Key Collaborators:
Rainer (Imi) Giese
 Rainer Giese

Knoebel met Giese in 1962 at art school in Darmstadt. The two called themselves Imi and
Imi as an abbreviation for Ich mit Ihm (I with him), when Giese committed suicide in 1974
Knoebel kept their shared name as a tribute to him.

IT was together under the tutelage of Joseph Beuys at the Dusseldorf art academy that the
two of them created what is arguably Knoebels most recognisable work Raum 19.

Together they also redesigned a pub called the Rattinger Hof, which was a local art hot spot
with regulars such as Sigmar Poke, Albert Oehlen and Martin Kippenberg. The pubs
aesthetic was dictated by the red, blue and yellow none lights that were installed in the
ceiling (these three colours would go on to feature heavily in Knoebels later works)
Raum 19
(1968)
 A key work and perhaps the piece that best captures the overall intention of Knoebels
oeuvre.

The work takes its title from the room number of the studio that he worked in. The piece
explores the fundamentals of painting and sculpture. The most common constant
components of artistic practice (picture frames, planar surfaces, simple sculptural volumes
and shapes) are all reduced to the very rudiments of their form.

Each of the works 77 pieces are crafted from wood or fiberboard in a raw untreated state.
These practical and humble building materials were expressly used in order to convey his
belief that the artistic practice was for him and pragmatic as that of any labourer or worker.

Whilst the preoccupation with harmonising the pieces form and function betrays the
Bauhaus influence, the work also owes a considerable debt to the aesthetic that Beuys
undoubtedly inspired. As the piece can be arranged in innumerable ways, the work is not so
much presented as staged. That is to say that depending on the artists decision at
installation, form becomes and event with the piece able to convey antithetical aesthetics
such as chaos or order, austerity or abundance, depending on its arrangement.
Development of Colour
 After his friend Blinky Palermos death in 1977, Knoebel created the series 24 Colors For
Blinky)

This is where he began working with primary colours, an important turning point in his oeuvre
as they went on to be applied to all aspects of his work.

It is important to note that throughout the series he holds true to his original materialistic
aesthetic, eschewing more familiar geometrical shapes for far less uniform shapes.

The irregularities of these shapes causes them to defy easy identification, this results in the
colour itself to be the primary focus of the work, this represented a stark departure from the
convention of colour being used as an expressive or referential device and instead
becoming far more abstract in character (color tout court)

This was also the inspiration for an untitled series of 80 works on paper which consisted of
knife cut coloured collages. They have often drawn comparisons to the collages that matisse
produced in his later years. Whilst the two may share similarities in terms of medium,
knoebels pieces are full of an abstract energy created by the odd irregular forms, in contrast
to Matisses more oblique human forms.
Recent Auctions
Imi Knoebel: An Meine Grne Seite (2009)

Title: An Meine Grne Seite (2009)

Size cm: 25.5 x 18 x 4

Auction House: Philips

Location: 30 Berkeley Square

W1J 6EX London

United Kingdom

Date of Sale: 09 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: Lot not sold

Imi Knoebel: Rot, Gelb, Weib, Blau: Four plates (1995)

Title: Rot, Gelb, Weib, Blau: Four Plates (1995)

Size cm: 125.5 x 125.5

Auction House: Philips

Location: 30 Berkeley Square

W1J 6EX London

United Kingdom

Date of Sale: 09 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 3,781

Imi Knoebel: Ohne Titel (2000)

Title: Ohne Titel (2000)

Size cm: 50 x 34

Auction House: Karl & Faber

Location: Amiraplatz 3
80333 Munich
Germany

Date of Sale: 10 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 26,139

Imi Knoebel: Sprzeichnung (1977)

Title: Sprzeichnung (1977)

Size cm: 99.2 x 69.5

Auction House: Ketterer Kunst GmbH

Location: Joseph-Wild-Str. 18
81829 Munich
Germany

Date of Sale: 10 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 7,955

Imi Knoebel: IT (1998)

Title: IT (1998)

Size cm: 25.7 x 24.5 x 12.7

Auction House: Ketterer Kunst GmbH

Location: Joseph-Wild-Str. 18
81829 Munich
Germany

Date of Sale: 10 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 6,250

Imi Knoebel: 17 Farben 20 Stbe (1993)

Title: 17 Farben 20 Stbe (1993)

Size cm: 36 x 34 x 20

Auction House: Ketterer Kunst GmbH

Location: Joseph-Wild-Str. 18
81829 Munich
Germany

Date of Sale: 11 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 40,662

Imi Knoebel: Ohne Titel 8 (2010)

Title: Ohne Titel 8 (2010)

Size cm: 135 x 115 x 8

Auction House: Ketterer Kunst GmbH

Location: Joseph-Wild-Str. 18
81829 Munich
Germany

Date of Sale: 11 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 45,180

Imi Knoebel: Rot, gelb, weiss, blau (1995)

Title: Rot, gelb, weiss, blau (1995)

Size cm: 102 x 102

Auction House: Van Ham Kunstauktionen

Location:Hitzelerstrasse 2
50968 Cologne
Germany

Date of Sale: 18 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 13,509

Imi Knoebel: Ohne Titel (1980-82)

Title: Ohne Titel (1980-82)

Size cm: 100 x 75

Auction House: Dorotheum

Location: Dorotheegrasse, 17
1010 Vienna
Austria

Date of Sale: 22 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: 13,509

Imi Knoebel: An Meine Grne Seite (2009)

Title: An Meine Grne Seite (2009)

Size cm: 25 x 18

Auction House: Auctionata

Location:Atelier 1
Havelchaussee 161
14055 Berlin
Germany

Date of Sale: 22 Jun 2016

Hammer Price USD: Unknown