Rudi Tröger
The Four Years of Printmaking: 1965 - 1968

Among the German painters of his generation, Rudi Tröger (*1929 Marktleuthen) has always been something of an outsider, a solitary, almost antiquated, figure. For decades, his work has exemplified a certain quality of diffidence and quiet intensity that has become increasingly rare in contemporary art. As a staunch traditionalist, he has always insisted the basis of art is emotion and observation. Yet from the beginning, this seemingly anachronistic emphasis was connected to a process that involved immersion in the painting process as a complex and highly unpredictable activity of intrinsic value to the artist, regardless of its outcome(…). Rudi Tröger’s work is his steadfast refusal to follow contemporary movement or programs. His artistic beginnings date to the heyday of Tachism, when abstract painting was endeavouring to establish itself as a universal language of art, and groups such as Cobra and Spur exerted considerable influence on the rising generation of young German artists. Resisting the temptations of discipleship, Tröger concentrated on developing his own ideas.

Michael Semff (N.Y. 1996)