Das Lamm und der Wolf 2019

Siegfried Zademack painted "Das Lamm und der Wolf" with a realism that’s almost surreal. The muted palette gives it a dreamlike quality, but the contrast with the heightened reality of the Wolf makes the whole scene unsettling. There’s a real push-pull here between the smooth finish and the disturbing imagery. Look at the Lamb, it’s painted on paper and taped onto the canvas, like a collage. The texture is so smooth, but the tape and the lamb create an unholy feeling. And that wolf, every tooth is a perfectly rendered threat! What I find so interesting is the way the artist combines hyperrealism with this almost cartoonish element. It reminds me of early Philip Guston, who also played with the edge between representation and something more… symbolic, maybe? It makes you wonder: what's real, what's not, and what are we supposed to *feel* about it?