Lot 314 D

The machine pictures have been part of Willi Baumeister's work since 1922. Thematically, it is not simply a question of the correlation between man and machine but also of levelling constructivistically arranged planar elements, a matter of fragile balance. Despite its partly curved and round shapes, the machine appears rather statuary. Upon close inspection, the delicate treatment of the individual planes as well as the partially applied fine dividing lines are quite delightful. In places, the stringent flatness is restricted by subtle zones of shadow. Adjacent to quiet pastel shades, a strong earthy brown generates an interesting yet harmonic area of tension.
The picture belonged to the Belgian art critic, painter and graphic artist Michel Seuphor (1901-1999). Baumeister's orientation towards France had emerged early on. In the early 1920s, his paintings received considerable interest in the Parisian art scene. In 1925, Michel Seuphor moved to Paris where a lively friendship between him and Baumeister developed. In 1929, Seuphor was a co-founder of the "Cercle et Carré" group. Apart from Baumeister, artists such as Mondrian, Arp, Taeuber-Arp, Léger, Schwitters, Kandinsky and Le Corbusier also participated in the first exhibition organised by Seuphor. In 1931, this group progressed to the group of artists "Abstraction-Création". In 1974, our painting was presented in an exhibition showing this group of artists. Baumeister had repeatedly asked his esteemed friend Michel Seuphor for text contributions for exhibition catalogues (cf. Felicitas Baumeister/Ulrike Groos (Ed.), Willi Baumeister International. Band 4 der Schriften des Archiv Baumeister im Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2013, p. 32ff, p. 81 ff.).