Is The Unready available for purchase?

The Unready has been sold. Other works by Claus Bertermann are available at bertermann.art/works.

What are the dimensions and medium of The Unready?

The Unready (2024) measures 150 × 120 cm and was created in Acrylic and oil paint 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 The Unready about?

The Unready is a figurative painting by Claus Bertermann whose title carries a historical echo: Æthelred II of England (978–1016) was known as "the Unready" — a mistranslation of the Old English "unræd," meaning "poorly counseled" or "lacking in good advice." Over the centuries, the epithet was reinterpreted as unpreparedness, and Æthelred became history's archetype of the ruler who faced events for which he was not equipped. Bertermann's The Unready reaches beyond this historical reference to something more universal: the experience of being summoned — by circumstance, by history, by the expectations of others — into a role or a moment for which one has not prepared. This is not necessarily a failure or a weakness; it is simply a human condition. The moment arrives before the person is ready. What happens next is the painting. In the context of the figurative series, The Unready occupies a specific position: it is the figure at the threshold of an event, not yet in it, aware of what is coming and not yet equal to it. The flatness of Bertermann's technical approach — no psychological modeling, no facial expression readable through the oil-stick line — allows the viewer to project their own experience of unreadiness onto the figure. The title also reads as a social diagnosis: in an era of accelerating change, most people are most of the time "unready" — called upon to navigate situations for which no prior preparation exists.

Is The Unready AI-generated?

No. The Unready is a hand-painted original created entirely by Claus Bertermann — Acrylic and oil paint 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.

The Unready | Figurative Works

CLAUS BERTERMANN — The Unready (2024), 150 x 120 cm

150 × 120 cm — 59 × 47 in

The Unready, 2024 — detail 1 | Claus Bertermann

The Unready, 2024, 150 × 120 cm — full view | Claus Bertermann

The Unready | Figurative Works | Claus Bertermann