The inscrutable Sigmar Polke

In today’s NYTimes, Carol Vogel visits Polke in his Cologne studio before he ships his paintings to the Venice Biennale. As is always the case with his work, Mr. Polke said, the paintings for the biennale sprang from specific ideas yet evolved in mystical ways as he experimented. “This is the meeting point of ideas and materials coming together,” he said in his German-accented English. “You see what you want, but you have to work with the painting, and the results are always different.” Read more.