Lot 275 D

“While Dexel had already sometimes found his way to fully abstract formations as early as 1917, it was only in 1922/23 that his works became entirely non-objective. These unquestionably display the painter's art in a mature state and are considered - and have since become broadly acknowledged - to be highlights of German Constructivism. Dexel turned to non-representational art while in Jena and, without a doubt, this shift was substantially fostered through the diverse manifestations of Constructivism in Russia, at the Bauhaus and particularly in the Dutch De Stijl movement [...]” (Ulrich Fernkorn, in: Walter Dexel: Bild Zeichen Raum, exhib. cat. Kunsthalle Bremen et al. 1991, p. 26).
Walter Dexel's Constructivism is defined by his striving to attain a balance between forms, colours and planar expansions. Through the smallest alterations in nuances of colour and minimal shifts in the position of forms on the picture plane, he developed pictorial compositions based on a hovering state of tension which simultaneously exude an extraordinary calmness. With each work, he thus repeatedly achieved different unities that are complete and immutable within themselves.
The vertical red bar that provided this reverse glass painting with its name has been shifted - in its dominance - somewhat to the right of the central vertical axis and is balanced out by the smaller rectangular forms surrounding it. Their specific colour and orientation causes them to emerge from the picture plane to differing degrees and provides them with a heterogeneous visual weight. Together, the individual elements combine into a composition in a state of absolute balance.