However, Sperl became ever more involved in a project, a new strand in his work, namely a series of satirical paintings castigating the vices, foibles and stupidities of the “economic miracle” times in Germany – aspects of modern life that must have been all the more striking to him, having suffered so much deprivation and returned to a country which was so very different to the one he had last seen in the forties. Not that satire was a new aspect of his work. He drew the following aged 16:

Pencil, 21x28

In 1936, he published the drawing called "Village Musicians"

19/12/34, Pencil Sketch, 59x45

The topics of his new series, however, are distinctly more ascerbic:

Such as "The Benefactor", 1959, Oils, 42x65

Or "Christmas"

The Official:

Superhuman and Subhuman:

Or Diogenes with his lamp, who is looking for a human and finds himself surrounded by semi-animals:

Youth and Old Age:

Untitled:

 

Art itself is looked at with a critical eye.

"The abstraction of the artist"