Willi Baumeister

Willi Baumeister 1889 - 1955 Helle Bewegung 3. 1947/48. Oil with synthetic resin and putty on cardboard reinforced with slats. Signed and dated in the lower right. Once more dated, titled “Helle Bewegung 3”, as well as inscribed with the dimensions and the note “Zum Umtausch nach Mannheim Galerie Günther Lange, Rötterstr. 20” by a hand other than the artist's on the reverse. 64 x 81 cm (25.1 x 31.8 in). Due to a later overpainting by the artist, the signature and date are partially obscured but still clearly visible. • A lighthearted, wonderfully cheerful interlude featuring Baumeister’s formal vocabulary. • An exceptionally tactile and alluring surface texture created by comb strokes. • In 1947, Baumeister published “Das Unbekannte in der Kunst” (“The Unknown in Art”)—a passionate plea for abstract art. • He is regarded as a key figure in postwar German Modernism and participated in documenta I (1955), II (1959), and III (1964). We are grateful to Felicitas Baumeister and Hadwig Goez of the Baumeister Archive in Stuttgart for their kind expert advice. PROVENANCE: Galerie Egon Günther, Mannheim. Private collection, Berlin. Swiss collection (since 2012, Ketterer Kunst). EXHIBITION: Gegenstandslose Malerei in Deutschland, Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim 1952, cat. no. 8. LITERATURE: Peter Beye, Felicitas Baumeister, Willi Baumeister. Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, vol. II, Ostfildern 2002, CR no. 1364 (here still titled “Helle Bewegung”; the black-and-white archive photo in the CR on p. 535 shows an earlier state of this work). Will Grohmann: Willi Baumeister. Leben und Werk, Cologne 1963, catalog no. 1002 (titled “Helle Bewegung V”). - - Ketterer Kunst, Munich, Auction 401, Postwar/Contemporary Art, Dec. 8, 2012, lot 201. Called up: December 5, 2026 - ca. 17.01 h +/- 20 min.

Estimate:£58,403.24

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