Prof. Markus Lüpertz is one of the most influential contemporary German artists. Lüpertz has exhibited his paintings since the 1960s and began working in sculpture in the early 1980s. From 1988 to 2009 Markus Lüpertz was the Director of the famous Düsseldorf Art Academy. In addition to his work as an artist, Lüpertz is a free jazz pianist, writes poetry and prose, and founded the art and literary magazine Frau und Hund. His work has been presented in numerous international exhibitions, including solo shows at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Bundeskunsthalle of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Times Art Museum, Beijing; Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou; and China Art Museum, Shanghai; The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Phillips Collection, Washington DC; and most recently at Haus der Kunst, Munich. Markus Lüpertz is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the Villa Romana Prize, the Lovis Corinth Prize of the Artists Guild, and the international Julio González Prize for his achievements in the field of visual arts. Markus Lüpertz lives and works in Berlin, Karlsruhe, Düsseldorf, and Florence.

In this new body of work, Lüpertz returns to the theme of Arcadia, a classic, pastoral utopia. Figures are pulled from Italian Renaissance and Dutch Golden Age paintings, given identities as characters from Greek mythology and placed into idyllic landscapes, largely inspired by the surroundings of his studio in Märkisch Wilmersdorf, Germany. A veteran painter who has exhibited worldwide for nearly sixty years, Lüpertz continues to explore art history and classicism and introduce new materials and methods in his oeuvre.

The Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest myths of a hero's quest. It is a classic story of betrayal and vengeance, and like many Greek myths has a tragic ending. Jason, who was refused his rightful ascension to the throne by his uncle, was promised coronation if he were to find his ancestor’s Golden Fleece. He does so with the help of the sorceress Medea, whose father had imposed yet another set of impossible challenges on Jason in exchange for the Fleece. Returning to Greece from Clochis to claim his throne, Medea and Jason are eventually forced into exile, where Jason takes on another wife, thus betraying his vows to the gods and Medea. In turn, Medea kills the second wife and her own children with Jason, then leaves for Mount Olympus. Jason goes back to lolkos; there, while asleep under the stern of his once-glorious ship Argo, a rotten beam falls on him, crushing him to death.

Jason was a popular figure on Roman sarcophagi because the ancient associated his quest with immortality and the conquest of death. This fragment depicts the marriage of Jason and Medea.