Martin Kippenberger was born on February 25, 1953 in Dortmund and he died March 7, 1997 in Vienna. Martin was born the only boy in a family of five children with 2 older sisters and 2 younger sisters. His mother was a dermatologist and his father was the director of Katharina-Elisabeth colliery. As a child Martin spent six years at a strict school where even as a child he showed great artistic talent but he skipped his art classes because the teacher only gave him the second highest grade in the class. In 1967 Martin was determined to maintain the control over his freedom of movement by going to a dance hall where his dance teacher told him "don't waggle your behind like that". This exaggeration from his dance instructor made him determined to dance and he went on to become the third best dancer in Europe. In 1968 after attempting to pass his fourth year exam for the third time Martin decided to leave school and pursue a practical career. He was rejected as a trainee at a shoe store because he was considered to have to much talent so he become a window dresser at a clothing store. After getting fired from his job for taking drugs he takes and trip to Scandinavia and then spends some time at a farm getting therapy where he was soon considered to be cured. In 1972 he begins studying art at the Hamburg Art Academy but he quit his studies there after sixteen semesters. After he didn't finish art school he decided to head to Florence to become an actor. This is when he painted his first canvases in his series Uno di vio, un tedesco in Firenze. All of these works were of the same medium and the same size, and they were based on postcards of photos that Martin took himself. This work remains incomplete though because his intention was to have the frames stacked and when they were stacked they were to reach his height but it was short by 10cm. Martin was never happy with what he was doing. At one point in his life he was determined that he was also going to become a writer.
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