Thomas Schutte’s “United Enemies”

Thomas Schutte is one of my favourite modern sculptors. Back in 2012 I visited his exhibition “Faces and Figures” in London’s Serpentine Gallery, where I saw the monumental duet of pairs of sculptures, the “United Enemies”.

The gallery lies in Hype Park, by the Serpentine lake. This was an almost ideal setting for the bronze couples of the the United Enemies.

Each pair of figures was tied together by rope.

The Enemies were so close and yet so far apart.

This profile reminded me of Bismarck and the Prussian State.

They did not look at each other. They appeared austere and detached from ordinary life. As if born to be special.

They were wrapped in some sort of a heavy cloth, what came to my mind (as a metaphor) is felt, as used by Beuys, the great German artist, who has influenced many modern artists.

Schutte not only seems to be taking this in his stride, but in my eyes plays with artistic legacy all over the place.

In what follows, I offer three personal interpretative links.

August Rodin’s Balzac

Francis Bacon’s “Study after Velazquez’s Pope Innocent”

Georg Grosz’s “Pillars of Society”