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Der Mond – Die Braunschaft

1969

Images

An 80 by 70 inch painting with a light brown ground. A large circle dominates the canvas. The circle's red outlined ring contains the German text "Ah?! Sehet sein Grinsendes Gesicht, Die Braunschaft." Within the ring is a light brown moon against a black sky with a few scattered white dots. Der Mond is painted in tan letters across the bottom of the canvas.

Der Mond – Die Braunschaft
1969
Acrylic on canvas
80 x 70 in. (203.2 x 177.8 cm)

Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien. On loan from the Austrian Ludwig Foundation


Photo: Courtesy of Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Germany; Artwork: © Star of Hope Foundation, Vinalhaven, Maine

Installation view of Ludwig Goes Pop, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, October 2, 2014–January 11, 2015. Left to right, Der Mond – Die Braunschaft (1969), The Big 8 (1962), and Love Rising (The Black and White Love) (1968)

Installation view of Ludwig Goes Pop, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, October 2, 2014–January 11, 2015. Left to right, Der Mond – Die Braunschaft (1969), The Big 8 (1962), and Love Rising (The Black and White Love) (1968)

Description

Der Mond is the moon and I had decided that the moon would be tan before we got there and of course it was. This is a play on words and a play on words that was not terribly appreciated. I am thinking of Wernher von Braun [one of the most important rocket developers and champions of space exploration in the twentieth century], and I am thinking of the brown landscape of the moon. I decided I’d make up my own German word, which is Braunschaft; there is no such German word. Ah sehet sein grinzen . . . grinzendes Gesicht is of course see his grinning face. 

— Robert Indiana

 

Excerpt from Lecture in conjunction with the exhibition Wood Works: Constructions by Robert Indiana, Washington, D.C. May 3, 1984, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.