Heitere Landschaft IV, 1949

About the Work

Amoeba-like creatures, mysterious hieroglyphics and abstract forms inhabit Willi Baumeister's landscape. Are we being granted a microscopic glimpse into primordial time? Is a utopian future world being presented here? Or are these in fact archetypes which show the timeless state of the world beneath its surface? Influenced by Surrealism, especially by Joan Miró, Baumeister seeks the absolute in reduction and synthesis. 'Cheerful Landscape IV' was created in 1949, when much of Germany still lay devastated, and yet here everything is full of movement. With colours and forms interacting in pulsating vitality, Baumeister formulated an escapist alternative plan to misery and destruction.