Stage. 1981.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed, dated and titled on verso of the canvas. 160.5 x 130 cm (63.1 x 51.1 in).
The person depicted on front is slightly visible in an outline drawing on verso. [CH].
• Around 1980 Middendorf made several works about the stage presence of musicians and singers, as well as the energy of Berlin's nightlife.
• "Electric Night", another work from this creative period, is possession of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt / Main.
• With dynamic, expressive brushwork and bright colors, Middendorf makes rock music a visual experience.
• "Make it big, make it loud, do it rough, make it bright." (Helmut Middendorf).

PROVENANCE: Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia.
Private collection Southenr Gerrmany (acquired from aforementioned in 2010).

"I have always been fascinated by motion, by a certian tension in the picture, to create this tension, to charge it, to charge the colors, and especially to work in bright colors. [..] If you confront the observer with three square meters of red something physical will happen, the blood pressure will rise, which has been proven."
Helmut Middendorf, 2015 in an interview with the Städel Museum