How much does Gambit cost?

Gambit (2026) is priced at $33,800 USD. The work is currently available for acquisition directly from the studio, through partner galleries, or via 1stDibs.

What are the dimensions and medium of Gambit?

Gambit (2026) measures 200 × 150 cm and was created in Acrylic and oil stick on canvas.

How can I acquire a painting by Claus Bertermann?

Works by Claus Bertermann are available directly from the studio, through partner galleries, and via 1stDibs. Contact the studio via the form at bertermann.art/contact.

Does Claus Bertermann have a gallery representative or exclusive agent?

No. Claus Bertermann works as an independent artist without exclusive gallery representation, dealers, or agents. Works are acquired directly from the studio at bertermann.art, through non-exclusive gallery partnerships, and at international auction houses.

What is Gambit about?

Gambit (2026) by Claus Bertermann is a large-format figurative painting — acrylic and oil stick on canvas, 200 × 150 cm, hand-painted, not AI-generated. The work presents a condition rather than a narrative: a young man seated behind a table with chess pieces, his cheek propped on his hand in the classic posture of calculation — except that he is not looking at the board. He looks straight out of the canvas at the viewer. The pieces stand large along the lower edge of the picture, on the viewer's side of the board; his side is an empty field of orange. A gambit offers the opponent something that seems free. The painting makes the direct gaze itself the offer: whoever holds his eyes has already accepted it, and the next move belongs to the person standing in front of the canvas. For this work, part of his 2026 figurative series, Claus Bertermann separates the two operations that make the picture. The ground is painted first, in coarse, broad brushstrokes that keep the movement of the arm visible: the near-black and deep blue background, the turquoise and pale yellow face, the lilac shirt and the orange table. The drawing comes afterwards and lies on top of that painted ground — the oil stick sets the cobalt line of the brows, eyes, nose and mouth, the scribbled red-orange jacket and propped arm, the loose blue lattice across chest and table and the white and yellow rims of the chess pieces. The drawn line does not conform to the field beneath it; it cuts across it and keeps its independence. Unlike his abstract works, nothing here is scraped back — the image is built forward: coarse painted ground below, decisive drawn contour above. The composition is frontal and centred in portrait format. The face is painted in turquoise, mint green and pale yellow, with brows, eyes, nose, mouth and a light beard drawn in strong cobalt and ultramarine; the dark hair dissolves at the top into a smoky mass of pale blue. His right hand is raised to his cheek, the arm drawn in a dense scribble of red, orange and vermilion, over an open lilac and violet shirt and a loosely drawn red-orange jacket. In front of him lies an orange and vermilion table top crossed by blue and dark red lines. Along the lower edge stand the chess pieces: a dark blue-green piece with a pink and lilac crown at the left, a tall pale green piece with a ringed collar at the centre and a dark navy piece at the right. The background is a deep near-black and navy field worked with light blue, turquoise and white strokes, crossed at the right edge by a soft yellow and ochre smear. Anatomy and perspective are intentionally simplified and distorted, prioritising emotional weight over realism. All surface irregularities are intentional and integral to the artist's process. Signed by the artist on the front and back, Gambit reflects Claus Bertermann's ongoing exploration of attention and encounter — a museum-scale portrait in which the viewer is not a spectator of the game but the opponent seated across the table.

Is Gambit AI-generated?

No. Gambit is a hand-painted original created entirely by Claus Bertermann — Acrylic and oil stick on canvas. All works by Claus Bertermann are made by hand. In a time when AI-generated imagery is increasingly common, every Bertermann painting is a unique physical object, never digitally produced.

Gambit | Figurative Works | Claus Bertermann

Gambit (2026) — 200 × 150 cm | 79 × 59 in

Acrylic and oil stick on canvas. Hand-painted original — made by a human artist.

Gambit, 2026 — detail 10 | Claus Bertermann

Gambit, 2026, 200 × 150 cm — full view | Claus Bertermann

Gambit, 2026 — detail 15 | Claus Bertermann

CLAUS BERTERMANN — Gambit (2026), 200 x 150 cm