Rupprecht Geiger

In his abstract egg tempera and oil paintings of the 1950s, he experimented with different trapezoidal, hook-shaped and irregularly shaped paintings, aiming to make the intrinsic value of colour perceptible to the viewer. This and his interest in Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematism and in the universe led him to create his first colour field paintings in 1960. Here Geiger presented a contrast between cold and warm colours, using basic shapes such as rectangles, ovals and circles. During his professorship at the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf (1965-1976), he experimented with acrylic and fluorescent paint, which he applied with a spray gun. With his murals (including one at the Reichstag building in Berlin) and his room installations, he has so far come closest to his goal of an absolute and meditative experience of colour. The artist has received countless awards and took part in Documenta 2, 3, 4 and 6. A major retrospective was held at the Lenbachhaus in Munich in 2007/08.