"Auge um Adler" (An Eye for an Eagle), 1981

The apparently decapitated eagle, whose head is presented on a tray like that of Holofernes or John the Baptist in classical painting - which here seems to be a mirror -, the male figure reminiscent of a worker and the painter falling next to him, plus the Slogan-like titles in the picture - typical elements of the painting by Jörg Immendorff, who has been dealing with German history and political agitation through his art since the late 1960s. With Immendorff, the biblical saying of retribution “an eye for an eye” becomes an appeal or a warning related to the German heraldic animal, which the artist depicts oscillating between figuration and gestural painting.