Now in his eighties, Bayrle is considered to be one of the pioneers of German Pop Art. Before he turned to his distinctive style, he worked for many years as a commercial artist, organising advertising campaigns for such diverse products as chocolate and high fashion.
Many of his works comment on modern society and the dominance of commercialism. In 1980 he first created his motif $, a motorway flyover in the shape of a dollar sign, made of painted cardboard and numerous miniature plastic cars and vans.
Further version
A year later, he produced a further version: the 3ft 5in x 2ft 5in (1.05m x 73cm) composition that was consigned to Döbritz by a local collector with a price tag of €20,000.
After most of their competitors had dropped out, it was left to a collector and a dealer to settle things. At €72,000 (£62,610) the former made way for the latter.
