Rupprecht Geiger

Private collection, Germany

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Julia Geiger, Rupprecht Geiger - Werkverzeichnis der Druckgrafik 1948-2007, Munich/Berlin/London/New York 2007, no. 175.

• A striking screenprint ensemble executed between 1986 and 1988, belonging to Rupprecht Geiger’s celebrated late exploration of pure colour and geometric reduction
• The Metaphor Zahl works exemplify Geiger’s lifelong investigation into the emotional and spatial potential of colour, particularly his iconic use of luminous red and radiant chromatic contrasts
• Works by Rupprecht Geiger are held in major institutional collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate and the Centre Pompidou, reflecting his central role within post war European abstraction

A leading figure of post war German abstraction, Rupprecht Geiger developed a highly distinctive visual language centred around the expressive and perceptual possibilities of colour. Originally trained in architecture in Munich, Geiger increasingly moved towards abstraction following the Second World War, becoming a founding member of the influential artist group ZEN 49 alongside figures such as Fritz Winter and Willi Baumeister. Throughout his career, Geiger pursued a radically reduced formal vocabulary in which colour itself became both subject and structure.

Executed between 1986 and 1988, the present Metaphor Zahl prints belong to Geiger’s mature period, when his work had reached an extraordinary level of formal clarity. Built through simplified geometric forms and intense chromatic contrasts, the compositions demonstrate the artist’s enduring interest in the psychological and spatial impact of colour. Rather than functioning as purely decorative abstractions, the works create a physical encounter with colour itself, allowing luminous fields of red, orange and pink to appear almost atmospheric in their intensity. The title Metaphor Zahl further reflects Geiger’s fascination with reduction and seriality, balancing mathematical structure with sensory experience.

Screenprinting became an important medium for Geiger during the later decades of his career, allowing him to achieve the saturated and highly controlled surfaces that defined his work. In the present four part ensemble, the repetition and variation across the compositions heighten the optical dialogue between form and colour.

Today, Geiger is recognised as one of the defining figures of twentieth century European colour field abstraction. Works by Rupprecht Geiger are held in major international museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate and the Centre Pompidou, underscoring the lasting influence of his chromatic investigations within post war abstraction.