Rescued from a skip on a rainy day in Manchester Square: May 68 print by Paul Wunderlich
//1968 print of Vor dem Vorhang//
//Hipgnosis fashion shoot for Club International, 1972//
An antiques restorer friend has pointed out that the early 70s fashion shoot by design studio Hipgnosis I recently featured here calls to mind the preoccupations with the female form of the late German artist Paul Wunderlich.
My friend – who wishes to remain anonymous – has offered as evidence a print of Wunderlich’s work Vor dem Vorhang (“Before the curtain”). The story of how he came by the artwork one squally day in central London seven years ago is remarkable:
I had just returned from Paris and was walking through Manchester Square when I saw it sticking out of a skip along with what looked like the remnants of a very recent flat clearance. There was a diagonal crack across the glass covered by tape, but I liked how it had never been out of the original frame.
//Detail, Vor dem Vorhang//
//Gallery label//
It was just starting to rain, a really heavy shower; just a couple of minutes later and it would have been ruined, so I picked it out and although it was inconvenient I carried it around for the rest of the day, and not just because I had an interest in the artist.
Wunderlich was good with colours – this has a dark green in it which doesn’t show up well under the glass/in the photo. – but over the last 20 years his prints have been among the most undesirable at contemporary auctions. It has come round a bit lately, with interest from some illustrators.
What made it irresistible for me was the date of the sale label on the reverse: May 31, 1968. While some people were at the barricades that week, others were clearly buying pictures in Cork Street.
//1968 exhibition catalogue//
//Catalogue portrait of the artist//
//From the catalogue//
//"A long-limbed, gangly, grey-faced man"//
Later, in Portobello Market, my friend picked up a catalogue for the exhibition which included the print, which looks to have been owned by art dealer and Indologist Julian Sherrier before being discarded.
//Paul Wunderlich, Editions Filipacchi, 1979//
//Frontispiece and title page//
//Wunderlich portraits including, left, Evelyn Waugh//
Wunderlich died in 2010; visit the site dedicated to his work here.