Ohne Titel, 1955

About the Work

The tradition that Günter Fruhtrunk made use of here is obvious and nevertheless strangely foreign. The painting clearly reveals the influence of Russian Suprematism – the first abstract current, which emerged around the time of the October Revolution – yet here the harmony its originators strove for seems obsolete. As in the asymmetrical panel executed by Fruhtrunk a decade later, the eye seeks clarity and finds disconcertion. This dynamic, elusive image demonstrates how closely post-war German painting was indebted to early modern art.