T H E  C R U C I F I X I O N

Index Books Films Paintings Photographs

Crucifixion IX 1991, oil and charcoal on linen, 74 x 62ins / 188 x 157.5cms

THE CRUCIFIXION BY MARCUS REICHERT Exhibited at Canterbury Cathedral (1999) and Winchester Cathedral (1999-2000), these massive paintings confront one with what Sister Wendy Beckett has called their terribilita. Described by Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, as being among the most disturbing painted in the 20th century, Reichert's Crucifixions command the viewer's attention not only with their depiction of the magnitude of Christ's agony but also with the eloquence of their painterly qualities. The American critic Donald Kuspit has written that both Picasso's and Bacon's Crucifixions, in their singular lack of commitment to the subject, pale when compared with Reichert's. Kuspit writes: 'The image of an isolated human being in the process of being annihilated by the world and his own anxiety is one that speaks to every person in our anomic society.  What makes Reichert's crucified Christ modern is his angry incomprehension at his suffering.'

Crucifixion X 1991, oil and charcoal on linen, 74 x 66ins / 188 x 167.6cms

Marcus Reichert: 'As a subject to paint, the Crucifixion has preoccupied me since I was eleven years old. I should explain that my father was a painter and I began painting with oils when I was just eight. It was not until 1990, when I was forty-two, that I felt wholly compelled to begin work on the Crucifixion. For me, the question will always be: to what extremes is one willing to go to express the agony -- physical, psychological, and spiritual. No one knows what Jesus suffered. We do know however that such a death is the ultimate expression of man's cruelty. The anxiety and despair of being subjected to such forms of torture and annihilation at the hands of one's fellow human beings is nearly beyond comprehension. Although it is impossible to truly express such suffering, this was my intention.'

Crucifixion VI 1991, oil, charcoal, and newsprint collage on linen, 74 x 62ins / 188 x 157.5cms

THE CRUCIFIXION BY MARCUS REICHERT, COLLECTORS' PRINTS AVAILABLE ENQUIRIES: REICHERT ARCHIVE

These works acknowledge, either knowingly or inadvertently, the impact of several painters of the Crucifixion of real note. As Reichert is of German background on his father's side of the family, his access to the greatest works of this subject of northern europe was considerable. He was especially aware of Matthias Grunewald's harrowing depiction of the event, and to a less potent degree Jan van Eycks's. Having spent his childhood in Pennsylvania, Reichert occasionally visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art where he admired Rogier van der Weyden's superbly elegant and strangely minimalist rendering of the Crucifixion, and also Thomas Eakins' dark version, which is not dissimilar to that of Peter Paul Rubens. Perhaps most poignantly he was moved by the inverted Crucifixion of Cimbue, which verges on the surreal. Paradoxically, he found Salvador Dali's most famous version less surreal in character. Reichert often admired Dali's painting when living in New York. Although the critic Donald Kuspit has written in a mildly disparaging vein when referring to the Crucifixions of Francis Bacon and Pablo Picasso when compared to Reichert's, it is only fair to say that Reichert was fascinated by the Crucifixions of both painters, but found Bacon's classic work Three Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1946) far more moving than Picasso's characteristically "cubist"  approach; however he found Picasso's weeping heads of Dora Maar (of 1937 in particular) of much greater consequence with regard to his own vision of Christ's torment.

Crucifixion I 1990, oil and charcoal on linen, 74 x 66ins / 188 x 167.6cms

REICHERT: THE CRUCIFIXIONS Catalogue for Touring Exhibition to Benefit the AIDS Services of North Carolina Texts by Sister Wendy Beckett and Michael J. Florescu The Greenville Museum of Art, North Carolina, 1993 pp16 - 4 full-page colour reproductions / 1 black and white reproduction (photograph by George Stavrinos) available from the Reichert Archive UK £5.95  US $7.95

Crucifixion II 1990, oil and charcoal on linen, 74 x 62ins / 188 x 157.5cms

MARCUS REICHERT: SOLO EXHIBITIONS           1970  Gotham Book Mart and Art Gallery, New York 1972  History of Collage, Zero Art, New York 1973  Gillan Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York 1975  David Deitcher Gallery, New York 1976  Deitcher O’Reilly Galleries, New York 1978  Ellen Myers Inc., New York 1987  Christopher Hull Gallery, London 1988  Christopher Hull Gallery, London 1990  Selected Works 1958-1989, Hatton Gallery of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (Retrospective) Selected Works 1958-1989, Phillips, Glasgow (Retrospective) Christopher Hull Gallery, London     1991 Works in Black and Grey 1978-1987, The Picture Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne Selected Works 1974-1990, Le Cercle Lucas-Carton, Paris Five New Paintings, Northumbria University Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne Christopher Hull Gallery, London 1992  Abstract Beginnings 1962-1974, X O Contemporary Art, London Recent Large Works, X O Contemporary Art at Vynehouse, Olympia, London (Exhibition to Benefit the Hearing Research Trust of Great Britain) 1993  The Crucifixions and Selected Works, Belk-Bracy Gallery, Washington Cultural Center, Beaufort County Arts Council, North Carolina Selected Works 1967-1991, Greenville Museum of Art, North Carolina (Exhibition to Benefit Pitt County AIDS Service Organization) 1994  The Crucifixions and Selected Works, Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina (Exhibition to Benefit Metrolina AIDS Project) The Crucifixions and Selected Works, Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory, North Carolina (Exhibition to Benefit AIDS Leadership Foothills-Area Alliance) Recent and Selected Works, Gallery C, Raleigh, North Carolina 1995  Recent and Selected Works, Broadhurst Gallery, Pinehurst, North Carolina 1996  Diary of a Seducer, An Exhibition of Ink Drawings 1970-71 and a Selection of Recent Works to Celebrate the Publication of the Gallery Americas Book, Gallery Americas, Carrboro, North Carolina 1997  Diary of a Seducer, An Exhibition of Ink Drawings 1970-71 From the Gallery Americas Book, Barnes & Noble, Greenville, North Carolina, touring to other Barnes & Noble stores      1999  The Crucifixions, Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury 1999-2000 The Crucifixions, Winchester Cathedral, Winchester 2004 The Human Edifice (photographs), Michael Hoppen Contemporary, London India Ink Drawings 1970, Chelsea Arts Club, London