The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Kölner Bettler II (Cologne Beggars II)

1972

Sigmar Polke

(German, 1941–2010)
Germany, 20th century
Offset lithograph from photographs by Polke
Image: 32.9 x 44 cm (12 15/16 x 17 5/16 in.); Paper: 42.8 x 60.6 cm (16 7/8 x 23 7/8 in.)
Gift of Tom E. Hinson and Diana S. Tittle 2022.65
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

German artist Sigmar Polke’s prints shares with American Pop Art the growing influence of advertising and the media in the 1960s.

Description

Instead of focusing on celebrities and consumer goods like Andy Warhol, Sigmar Polke used commonplace, unglamorous scenes as the basis of his images such as this violinist (identified in the work’s title as a beggar) playing in the streets of Cologne. Polke also used the most economical, prosaic means to reproduce the image—photolithography—rather than the vibrant screen print medium favored by American Pop artists.
  • Katharine Lee Reid [1941-], Chapel Hill, NC, given to Tom Hinson, Truth or Consequences, NM
    ?-2022
    Tom Hinson, Truth or Consequences, NM, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    June 6, 2022-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Kölner Bettler II (Cologne Beggars II)|url=false|author=Sigmar Polke|year=1972|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.65