SOLD – The Winner Takes It All – The Bitcoin Hand (2024) 310 x 160 cm (122 x 63 inches)

Acquired by a German collector in a mid–five-figure EUR transaction The Winner Takes It All – The Bitcoin Hand was conceived as a figurative painting about risk, conviction, and the quiet violence of decision-making in contemporary life. Set around a poker table, the scene stages a moment of tension that feels both intimate and systemic — a snapshot of power, chance, and consequence. The reference to Bitcoin is not literal, but symbolic. It stands for a broader mindset: speculation, belief, volatility, and the willingness to stake everything on an idea whose outcome cannot be fully controlled. Like a high-stakes hand of cards, the painting captures the psychological space between calculation and intuition — that precise moment when commitment becomes irreversible. On the poker table itself, two small but charged symbols appear: a fish, traditionally associated with losing and inexperience at the table, and a Bitcoin, standing for risk-taking, speculation, and the possibility of winning against conventional logic. Together, they quietly underline the asymmetry of the situation — not everyone at the table plays by the same rules or with the same awareness. Visually, the work balances strong color contrasts with deliberately fractured figures. The characters are present but not individualized; they function as roles rather than portraits. Their gestures, hands, and postures carry the narrative weight. The table becomes a stage, the cards a catalyst, and the surrounding architecture a compressed, almost claustrophobic frame that reinforces the pressure of the situation. At a scale of 310 × 160 cm, the painting is physically immersive. It was created to dominate space rather than decorate it — an image that asserts itself and asks the viewer to slow down, read the room, and reflect on their own relationship to risk and reward. The work was recently sold and now forms part of a private collection. Its sale marks another important milestone in my ongoing exploration of figurative painting as a counterpoint to abstraction — a space where narrative, symbolism, and psychological tension can unfold more directly. "Some hands are played carefully. Others are played to win everything." Published on bertermann.art, the official website of artist Claus Bertermann.