Lot 619 D

Joseph Marioni describes his extensive study of monochrome painting and the problems he associates with it as follows: 'The new problems of painting ignite in the central questions concerning pictoriality and the function of colour. To my mind, the problem is to discover the expressiveness of colour without forfeiting painting's concrete character of reality. Painting should visualise the full expressiveness of colour, however, it is not about colour as a simple fact, but about how colour functions as a painting. We need to ask ourselves: what is the difference between a colour painting and a colour pigment in a glass? […] For me, colour stands in a functional relationship to human feelings. My particular concern in relation to colour is directed towards its perceptible expression of emotion and how the picture as a concrete object can become a location for this perception. I sometimes say that I'd like to do for colour what Pollock did for the line. I would like to liberate colour from its restrictions. Monochrome painting makes colour more accessible, it has a greater potential to deepen the perception of colour, and I believe it has to do with emotional intimacy. (Joseph Marioni in conversation with Hannelore Kersting, in: Joseph Marioni, Malerei, exhib.cat. Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach 1988, p.12).

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