MUNICH.- Norbert Tadeusz, born in 1940, was one of Joseph Beuys' master pupils in the 1960s. He is regarded as one of the most important contemporary artists in Germany to have held steadfastly to their figurative pictorial world over a period of many decades. The familiar and the everyday in Tadeusz's graphic work is also dominated by the presence of the (predominantly female) body in its sensual dimension. The artist's almost obsessive theme is the body's exposed positioning within a space and its existential isolation that is sometimes reminiscent of Bacon.

This is repeatedly expressed in the contorted poses, trailing shadows, distortions and fragmentation, executed in a highly individual palette that combines brilliant colours with morbid, elemental sobriety.

As a result, the sheets dispense with any ostensible virtuosity: they gain their sensuality from their direct clarity, accompanied by the distinct notion of the effectiveness of the space. Complexes of around 100 of Tadeusz's works on paper from a private collection have been generously donated to the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München and to the Dresdner Kupferstichkabinett in each case. With a focus on the 1960s and '70s, the works bear testimony to the artist's originality and the rich facets of his work in this medium.