Montaru 3b

In »Montaru 3b« the center of the picture is occupied by a matt black area, bordered by additional forms in intense colors. The individual areas of color appear extremely fluid and dynamic. With their organic character they appear to grasp at or retract from the surrounding space.

Baumeister, one of the most important post-World War II German abstract painters, who time and again vigorously championed non-representational art, referenced physics, biology, and mythology in order to lend direction to the interpretation of his work. Does »Montaru 3b« thus become a representation of a microscopic world which remains invisible to the naked eye and is only brought to light through painting?

The title is ambiguous: »Montaru« is composed of the word “mons” (=mountain) and “Ararat”, the mountain in Armenia where, according to the bible, Noah’s Arc was stranded. Danger and salvation, end time and new beginning are thus juxtaposed in an abstract composition in which pure color and pure form establish a balance.