Schwarze Formen schwebend, Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister
Schwarze Formen schwebend
DE
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Willi Baumeister

Schwarze Formen schwebend, 1950


Dimensions
34.5 x 44 cm
Physical Description
Oil on cardboard
Inventory Number
2538
Acquisition
Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection
Status
Not on display

Texts

About the Work

Abstract black shapes are distributed across an uneven sandy-white painting surface. No colour is present to distract from their organic-looking forms. Like runes or symbols, they seem to tell a story, while at the same time defying interpretation. Willi Baumeister was interested in prehistoric artefacts as well as the art of Africa and Asia. In his work, symbol-like forms such as these recur in his ornamental structures in ever new variations.

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
Schwarze Formen schwebend (Original Title)
Title Translation
Floating Black Forms
Artist
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on cardboard
Material
Technique
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert und datiert unten rechts: Baumeister 50

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
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
Main Motif

Iconclass

Primary
  • 0 Abstract, Non-representational Art
  • 22C4(BLACK) colours, pigments, and paints: black
Secondary
  • 49D31 point (~ planimetry, geometry)
  • 49D322 curved line
Associative

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:

  • 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

25.04.2024