How much does Trace cost?

Trace (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 Trace?

Trace (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.

Trace (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 woman at a chess table, head bowed, eyes lowered almost to closing, her open hand suspended above the board without touching a piece. Beside her stands a chess clock with two faces. The painting is not really about chess. It is a vanitas in disguise — the old still-life genre in which a timepiece, fresh flowers and glass stand for the passing of everything. All three are here: the clock, the flowers in her hair and chess pieces painted as translucent as glass. There is no opponent and no skull; the only other presence at the table is the clock, which runs only while a player hesitates. The title names what remains when a moment has passed: not the result, only the trace of a hand. 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 deep blue night, the mint-green table, the dark green board and the orange, ochre and green masses of the robe. The drawing comes afterwards and lies on top of that painted ground — the oil stick sets the dark blue line of the lowered eyes, brows and mouth, the black strands of the gathered hair, the white contour of the hovering hand, the translucent chess pieces, the two dials of the clock and the faint grid of the board. The drawn line does not conform to the field beneath it; it keeps its independence, and like a touched chess piece it cannot be taken back. 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 centred in portrait format. The face is painted in pale blue and white; the dark hair is gathered on top of the head and set with yellow, orange and red flowers. The wrapped robe with its V-neck is painted in vermilion, orange, ochre and yellow with green and blue passages, and at the left the sleeve dissolves into flaring strokes of orange and red. The pale blue hand, outlined in white, hangs open above a dark green and near-black board crossed by faint orange and blue lines, on which the chess pieces stand as grey and white translucent forms with small orange and red accents. At the right edge of the table stands a blue chess clock with two white dials, red hands and yellow rims. The table is a band of mint green and turquoise; the background is a deep navy and ultramarine field brightening to cobalt at the top. 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, Trace reflects Claus Bertermann's ongoing exploration of time and attention — a museum-scale painting that holds the one moment no chess notation ever records: the hesitation before the move.

Is Trace AI-generated?

No. Trace 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.

Trace | Figurative Works | Claus Bertermann

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

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

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

Trace, 2026 — detail 15 | Claus Bertermann

Trace | Figurative Works | Claus Bertermann

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