Procession of the Giants, Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister
Procession of the Giants
DE
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Willi Baumeister

Procession of the Giants, 1947


Blatt
447 x 570 mm
Physical Description
Charcoal, stumped, erased, and oil crayon in black, rubbed as frottage, pastel in yellow, orange, blue, green, purple and brown on chamois-coloured wove paper, fixed
Inventory Number
17679
Object Number
17679 Z
Status
Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

In Willi Baumeister’s works of the late 1930s, the depictions of human figures take on the character of signs resembling written letters. "The Procession of the Giants" combines mythical worlds with the reduced forms the artist had drawn from his study of ancient cultures. Yet the work also owes its primeval quality to the drawing mediums and complex drawing technique he employed. For example, an irregular structure reminiscent of a rock face covers the entire surface. To achieve that effect, the artist laid the sheet on a relief-like surface whose structure appeared on the paper when he went over it with charcoal.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Procession of the Giants
Draughtsman
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Charcoal, stumped, erased, and oil crayon in black, rubbed as frottage, pastel in yellow, orange, blue, green, purple and brown on chamois-coloured wove paper, fixed
Material
Technique
Geographic Reference
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert und datiert unten links (mit Bleistift): W Baumeister 47
Captions Added Later
Verso bezeichnet oben mittig (mit Kreide in Schwarz): oben
Verso bezeichnet oben mittig (mit Bleistift): Silbergrau
Watermark
  • Nicht vorhanden
Work Catalogues
  • Ponert 1806

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre
Main Motif

Iconclass

Primary
  • 0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
  • 49D32 line (~ planimetry, geometry)
  • 49D43 prism ~ stereometry
Secondary
  • 49D322 curved line
  • 49D341 irregular quadrilateral
  • 49D33 triangle (~ planimetry, geometry)
  • 49D36 circle (~ planimetry, geometry)
  • 22C4 colours, pigments, and paints
Associative

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
Willi Baumeister (1889-1955)
Galerie Valentien, Stuttgart
Privatbesitz
Verst. Villa Grisebach, Berlin, 4.6.1993 (Los-Nr. 49)
Privatsammlung Süddeutschland
Galerie Valentien, Stuttgart
Galerie Luzán, Berlin
verkauft an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2017.

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:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

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Last update

23.04.2024