Nr. 1/66, "Straßenmühle" (18a/66)

Peter Brüning’s paintings are primarily classified as German Informal Art, although he systematically abandoned its free painterly gesture during the course of his career, turning instead to concrete forms of expression. Brüning became increasingly influenced by American Pop Art and Nouveau Réalisme—art movements characterized by the rediscovery of everyday culture and a critique of the world of consumerism. In the 1960s Brüning observed how ballooning industrial areas and the associated expansion of the transport network resulted in a permanent change in traditional landscapes and cityscapes. In his idiosyncratically abstracted landscapes—which include the sculptural work Road Windmill—the artist employed a colorful and symbolic repertoire of forms he derived from familiar sign systems used in urban cartography and road signs. Brüning is considered one of the pioneers and initiators of the Düsseldorf art scene.