How much does Gatekeeper cost?

Gatekeeper (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 Gatekeeper?

Gatekeeper (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 Gatekeeper about?

Gatekeeper (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 woman sits in a deep green armchair, wrapped in a flowing red coat, and looks calmly and directly at the viewer. At her feet sits a slender hound with long, dark ears, upright and attentive, meeting the viewer with the same steady gaze. The dog is the first to receive every visitor, and he turns out to be her mirror image: his dark ears fall exactly like her short dark hair, and his eyes share the same deep blue calm as hers. He is not guarding her from the world; he welcomes it on her behalf. Two faces, one first impression, and an invitation that has already been given. Together with Affinity and Windspiel, Gatekeeper belongs to a small group of 2026 paintings about a woman and her dog. 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 glowing yellow wall, the burst of flowers at the left, the blue curtain at the right, the green masses of the armchair and the red and orange sweep of the coat. The drawing comes afterwards and lies on top of that painted ground — the oil stick sets the dark blue line of her eyes, brows and hair, the red lips, the contour of the neck, the long ears and blue eyes of the hound and the loose red and orange line of the coat as it spreads to the floor. The drawn line keeps its independence from the field beneath it. 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 vertical and stacked in portrait format: her face at the top, the coat and armchair in the middle, the hound's head at the very centre of the canvas, sitting on the hem of her coat like a doorman on the threshold. Her face is painted in luminous lemon yellow with dark blue features and coral-red lips; the short hair is drawn in ultramarine and violet. The coat is vermilion, orange and red with violet passages at the lower left; the armchair is emerald and grass green with turquoise and blue shadows. The hound is painted in warm orange, ochre and brown, his long ears in deep blue and black. Behind them, the wall glows in lemon and cadmium yellow, flowers in pink, magenta, red and orange fill the left edge, and a curtain in cobalt and sky blue falls at the right. Anatomy and perspective are intentionally simplified and distorted, prioritising emotional presence over realism. All surface irregularities are intentional and integral to the artist's process. Signed in green oil stick at the lower right and on the back, Gatekeeper reflects Claus Bertermann's ongoing exploration of companionship and presence — a museum-scale painting in which two calm faces welcome the viewer in the very first second.

Is Gatekeeper AI-generated?

No. Gatekeeper 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.

Gatekeeper | Figurative Works

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

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

Gatekeeper, 2026 — detail 13 | Claus Bertermann

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

Gatekeeper, 2026 — detail 11 | Claus Bertermann

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