Hermes Trismegistos I-IV

The monumental Hermes Trismegistos consists of four elements that fill an entire gallery in the museum. There is a remarkable story behind the acquisition of this piece: after the museum failed to purchase an earlier work by Polke, the artist created this work specifically for De Pont. Despite tremendous interest from America, the then newly-opened De Pont Museum was able to add the piece to its collection in 1996.

Three huge canvases depict enlarged fragments of an image that is shown in its entirety in the smallest painting: the mythical Hermes Trismegistos bestowing a manuscript on two sages. The image was borrowed from a mosaic floor in the cathedral of Siena, designed by Giovanni di Stefano in 1488. Hermes Trismegistus – Hermes ‘three times the greatest’ – was a philosopher, priest and king, all at once. He is considered the founder of alchemy and hermetic philosophy, i.e., the search for the source of all knowledge and the formula for turning lead into gold.

On the smallest canvas, the figures are depicted using a rough grid technique reminiscent of newspaper reproductions and cheap printed matter. This is Polke’s characteristic way of supplying ironic commentary on the pretensions of modern art, which often centres on concepts such as ‘authenticity’ and ‘inspiration’.

Another noteworthy aspect is Polke’s experimental use of materials. He explored the effects of different kinds of paint and pigments, as well as various painting techniques. The works have been painted on polyester fabric, coated with lacquer in some areas to make it transparent. The smallest canvas, covered in transparent synthetic resin in a blend of sky blue and emerald green, appears to be constantly changing colours in a kind of mother-of-pearl effect. For the larger canvases, Polke has applied the paint to the reverse of the transparent fabric. The paint traces an irregular path and the bands of colour fan out widely across the picture plane.

For alchemists, colours represent the various stages in the pursuit of perfection. Here, Polke’s subject is not so much the mythical alchemist Hermes as the act of artistic creation itself. And the actual message seems to be that, in the end, the only true alchemist is the artist who ‘turns lead into gold’.