(Vienna 1942 - 2004 Cudrefin)

Tür. 1971/74.

Pencil, pen and tempera on Formica plate.

Signed and dated upper centre: Hofkunst 71, as well as signed and dated on the reverse: Hofkunst 74 nochmals.

200 × 125 cm.

Provenance:
- Collection Robert Rademacher, Cologne.
- Galerie Krugier, Geneva.
- Private collection Belgium.

The artwork “Tür” (Door) by this Swiss artist Alfred Hofkunst has a crack across its surface – is this unintended damage or a trompe-l'oeil conceived by the artist?

Both is true in a way.

The work was produced in 1971 by the artist Alfred Hofkunst. He signed his work on the front, in the image of the painted sketch: Hofkunst 71. Three years later the artwork was unfortunately damaged by the owner of the time, resulting in a long crack on the back of the door. The collector asked the artist if it was possible to close the crack. However, the crack was so massive that it would not have been possible to carry out a perfect restoration of the white and smooth surface without leaving a trace.

Alfred Hofkunst decided to take his artwork back into the studio and to transform it. On the front he created a new crack, which he embellished with a pencil. On the back he added to the damage with an artificial and physical hole in the Formica surface. He added, as on the front three years earlier, a trompe-l’oeil leaf, which is also signed: “Hofkunst 74 nochmals”.

The artist Alfred Hofkunst made the damage into an enhancement. The originally damaged work has regained its value, entirely as conceived by the artist.