© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018
(

Kunsthalle Mannheim / Cem Yücetas

)

Montaru 3b

1953

Willi Baumeister

(1889-1955)

Material / Technik
oil paint
Kunstharz
Hartfaserpappe
Kategorie des Exponats
Malerei
Gattung
abstract painting
Erwerbungsjahr
1953
Maße
100,10 cm x 130,70 cm
Location

Hector-Bau > Ebene 2 > Schaudepot

Intro

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.

Creditline

Kunsthalle Mannheim

Inhalt und Themen
abstraction
flat
organic forms
color
lines
black
red
blue
polychrom polychromatic
helix
triangle
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