Linear Figures with Relief, 1953

Blatt: 292 x 477 mm

Physical Description: Coloured chalks, partially stumped, erased, black chalk, partially rubbed, on laid paper (top edge perforated)

Inventory Number: 17885

Object Number: 17885 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

Baumeister’s preoccupation with stone-age cave paintings was still echoing in his works in the 1950s. It was in 1953 that he executed this richly structured drawing with its archaic symbols, which look as if they had been grouped one next to and above the other by chance. The surrounding space is vague and seems to consist of several—also temporal—layers of colour accents and partially blurred hatchings. Against this background, the ambiguous pictorial script takes on a virtually relief-like effect, which Baumeister achieved with the aid of an eraser and frottage.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Linear Figures with Relief

Draughtsman

Willi Baumeister

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Coloured chalks, partially stumped, erased, black chalk, partially rubbed, on laid paper (top edge perforated)

Material

Technique

chalk drawing

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signiert und datiert unten links (mit Bleistift): Baumeister 8 53
Verso bezeichnet und datiert unten mittig (mit Bleistift): Engadin 8/53

Watermark

Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues

Ponert 2182

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Departement

Department of Prints and Drawings

Collection

Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

abstraction

Iconclass

Primary

0 Abstract, Non-representational Art

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: