Joerg Immendorff died on Monday. The disease ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis finally took his life. Immendorff will be missed and his oil paintings, prints and sculptures that mixed surrealism with an element of satire will be left in his memory.
I first heard about this artist in 2004 when he was fined 150,000 Euros and an 11 month suspended prison sentence. He pleaded guilty to charges related to the publicized "cocaine orgy" at a hotel. Immendorff , then terminally ill, said he only wanted to go out with a fling. He invited several prostitutes to a party in a hotel room that had quantities of alcohol and drugs were made available.
Other items I have read about this artist is when the disease made it impossible for him to paint with his left hand he switched to his right hand and when the disease made it impossible for him to paint at all he directed his assistants to paint for him from his wheelchair.
Immendorff set up a foundation in his own name to finance medical research into the condition in 1998
Picture from www.canada.com
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