62 Bernhard Heisig (1925–2011) Learning to Fly in the Courtyard, 1996 Oil on canvas, 215 × 200 cm Inv. no. G 3785 In Learning to Fly in the Courtyard, Bernhard Heisig revisits the figure of Icarus from Greek mythology, a recurring theme in East German art. The painting depicts a couple’s failed attempt to fly out into the wider world in a contraption reminiscent of Otto Lilienthal’s early flying machines. Their endeavour ends in disaster when they crash to the ground. Heisig pushes the futility of escaping the tenement-house courtyard to the point of grotesque exaggeration. The aircraft appears to be made of umbrellas, the woman’s skirt has ridden up and although both have already fallen, the man still clings to the controls. Residents of the surrounding block leer at the scene with voyeuristic glee. The raw, at times coarse visual language is intensified by the thick impasto of the brushwork. By invoking Icarus, Heisig reflects on the experience of many in the GDR who lived under political and artistic constraints and could escape only through their imagination. Painted after the reunification, the courtyard can also be read as a broader symbol of confinement, as well as an allusion to the challenges faced by many East Germans in navigating their newfound freedom after 1990. _PP
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