Untitled, Number 5

1977–1991

Professor at the Hamburg Academy

From 1977 to 1991 Polke was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg; his students included Georg Herold.

1980s

Back to painting: chemistry and chance

Returning to painting in the 1980s, Polke mixed pigments with solvents, varnishes, toxins and resins to provoke spontaneous chemical reactions; he soaked fabric in resin to make it transparent and left the composition to the colours themselves, tilting the canvas.

1986

The Golden Lion at Venice for “The Alchemist's Cauldron”

In the German pavilion at the 42nd Venice Biennale Polke painted an abstract composition on the wall in a special mixture whose colours changed with the light, weather, humidity and the number of visitors: a full room turned the wall blue, gathering clouds turned it pink. For “The Alchemist's Cauldron” the jury gave him the Golden Lion for painting, shared with Frank Auerbach.

1987

Warhol, Beuys, Polke in Milwaukee

In 1987 the Milwaukee Art Museum brought Warhol, Beuys and Polke together in one show.

1988

Baden-Württemberg International Prize

In 1988 Polke received the Baden-Württemberg International Prize for Painting.

1990–1992

Major solo shows in the US and Europe

Major solo exhibitions of Polke's work were held in the United States (1990–1992) and Amsterdam (1992), then in Bonn and Berlin (1997) and at Humlebæk in Denmark (2001); from then on everything he did drew universal attention and admiration.