Willi Baumeister

Estate of the artist

Galerie Beyeler, Basel

Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne

Art Consulting Achenbach, Dusseldorf

Acquired from the above in 1983 by the present owner

Will Grohmann, Willi Baumeister - Leben und Werk, Köln, 1963, no. 129

Peter Beye & Felicitas Baumeister, (eds.), Willi Baumeister. Werkkatalog der Gemälde, Stuttgart 2002, Vol. II, no. 240, p. 107, illustrated

Braunschweig, Kunstverein- Haus Salve Hospes, Willi Baumeister, Bilder und Zeichnungen, 1977, no. 4, illustrated

Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Willi Baumeister 1889 - 1955, 1978, no. 1

New York, Leonard Hutton Galleries, Willi Baumeister 1889 - 1955, 1978- 1979, no. 1, p. 14, illustrated

• Early abstraction from Baumeister's transitional 1920s period, showcasing his shift from figuration to geometrical composition
• Harmonious palette of soft, earthy tones enhances the visual balance
• Comparable works held in major institutional collections

A pivotal figure in the development of abstraction in Germany, Willi Baumeister stands among the most innovative voices of the interwar avant-garde (1918 – 1939). Influenced by early Constructivism, Cubism, and the compositional clarity of contemporaries like Léger and Klee, Baumeister developed a highly personal expression of flat, floating shapes and rhythmic structural balance. Painted in 1920, Flächenspannung (Plane Tension) is a rare and compelling work from Baumeister’s early period. At this stage, he was moving away from representational subjects and embracing a more radical language based on geometric reduction. The title itself, which translates as "Plane Tension," reflects the artist’s engagement with compositional balance.

In this composition, Baumeister arranges planar forms in dynamic opposition, modulating color and line to create a sense of movement and structural interplay. At the centre of the work is a large horizontal rectangle in beige, surrounded by a constellation of smaller squares in earthy tones, such as brown, ochre, grey, and black. The tonality recalls the visual clarity of early Bauhaus works.

Executed in the same year that Baumeister exhibited together with Oskar Schlemmer and Kurt Schwitters in Dresden, this work reflects the rapidly evolving modernist moment in postwar Germany. He was in close contact with leading figures of the European avant-garde and was beginning to exhibit internationally. Despite later censorship under the Third Reich, Baumeister continued to work with remarkable resilience, ultimately becoming one of Germany’s most celebrated postwar artists. The present painting has remained in a distinguished European collection for more than four decades. Early compositions from this period are highly sought after by both private collectors and institutions. His works are housed in major international museums including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Tate Gallery, London; and the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.