Dieter Roth (* 1930; † 1998) is one of the most influential European artists of the post-war period. He created works with a wide variety of materials, from prints to paintings, from sculptures to installations. In 1954, Roth began experimenting with materials, including his first “baked” sculpture made of bread dough. He later worked with chocolate in his works. The artist was fascinated by the decomposition process of an organic material, in which he perceived something uncontrollable and unadulterated. The “Motorcyclist” from 1969 also thematizes these processes through the use of sheet metal, acrylic and wood. In 1969, the internationally renowned artist Dieter Roth explored a toy motorcycle from the Nuremberg tin toy manufacturer Josef Wagner and showed that toys can not only be an object of daily use for many children, collectors and enthusiasts, but can also become a work of art. The Josef Wagner company has been making tin toys by hand on original tools in a family business since 1969. The motorcycle that Roth used as the basis for his multiple first appeared in the 1950s under the name TCO-58 from the Nuremberg manufacturer Tipp&Co. In 1969, Wagner produced a faithful, lithographed replica of the legendary model made of metal and sheet metal with plastic tires and friction drive, which is now a popular collector’s item.

Dieter Roth used the toy to realize his artistic idea. Covered with red acrylic paint and mounted on a wooden panel, the object represents a unique combination of Nuremberg toy production and important post-war German art