GÜNTHER FÖRG | Ohne Titel

Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the blue tone is slightly lighter and brighter in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. All surface irregularities, scuffs and abrasions are in keeping with the artist's working process and choice of medium. Extremely close inspection reveals some light wear with some associated tiny specks of superficial paint loss to the extreme upper right hand corner tip. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra violet light.
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Begun in the mid-1980s, Gunther Förg's series Lead Paintings, of which Ohne Titel, is part, powerfully conveys a rigorous understanding of the art historical tenets of Modernism and Abstract Expressionism, whilst simultaneously appearing utterly forward-thinking. This standout series calls upon the authentic planarity of colour field painting whilst establishing an altogether new architectural territory for the medium by introducing lead as a radical new ground. Through a bold annunciation of unadulterated pigments and their dramatic interaction with the unprimed metal, Ohne Titel masterfully re-negotiates the trajectory of Minimalist painting and propels its pioneering creator into the annals of art history. Ohne Titel testifies to the emphatic nature of Förg’s artistry, exemplifies his stylistic ingenuity, and confirms his innovative creative approach, focussing on the materiality of art in its most untreated and raw state.  Having studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich from 1973-76 and having been inspired by the Suprematist ideals of Kazimir Malevich, Förg’s early artistic output was dominated by black monochromes that echoed the Russian master’s ground-breaking Black Square of 1915. These early experiments with the black monochrome were to have a significant impact on his infamous Lead Paintings; Förg’s particular use of acrylic with the addition of a translucent grey, offered a peculiar surface effect that gave birth to his career-defining preoccupation with the properties of materials.
Instead of using traditional canvases, Förg’s Lead Paintings are made by wrapping sheets of lead, sometimes in several layers, around a wooden frame or panel, before painting directly onto them with no treatment or preparatory ground. In the present work, the oxidised patina of the lead surfaces and its textural striations emphasise the solidity of the support imbuing the work with an innate gravitas. Recounting his decision to use lead, Förg remarked: “I like very much the qualities of lead – the surface, the heaviness. Some of the paintings were completely painted, and you only experience the lead at the edges; this gives the painting a very heavy feeling – it gives the colour a different density and weight. In other works the materials would be explicitly visible as grounds. I like to react on things, with the normal canvas you have to kill the ground, give it something to react against. With the metals you already have something – its scratches, scrapes…” (Günther Förg in conversation with David Ryan, in: David Ryan, Talking Painting: Dialogue with Twelve Contemporary Abstract Painters, London 2002, p. 77).

Ohne Titel is dominated by raw lead interrupted by a square zone of a flat, pale blue colour on the upper right-hand corner. With the dispersion of these elemental colours the artist mirrors the design-centric focus of Piet Mondrian and De Stijl whilst simultaneously evoking Mark Rothko's extraordinary paintings in his use of hazy colours Yet our ability to absorb the spiritually enveloping capacities of the work is compromised by Förg’s rational insistence on raw materiality. Utilising the unique properties of a base element of the periodic table, the surface becomes an enlivened plateau of intriguing texture through natural oxidation heightened by gestural brushstrokes: here Förg posits himself as both artist and alchemist. An essay in pure formalism, Ohne Titel is a superlative example of Förg’s career-defining Lead Paintings.



This work is recorded in the archive of Günther Förg as No. WVF.89.B.0837. We thank Mr. Michael Neff from the Estate of Günther Förg for the information he has kindly provided on this work.