Willi Baumeister

Kegelspiel in Metaphysischer Landschaft is a powerful example of Willi Baumeister’s mature work, forming part of his highly significant series of Metaphysical Landscapes. Combining organic and geometric forms to brilliant effect, Kegelspiel in Metaphysischer Landschaft hovers thrillingly on the cusp of abstraction whilst still revealing recognisable figural elements. Two characters engage their concentration fully into the bowling match they are playing, with the left hand person clearly poised to roll the ball: Baumeister captures the moment of indecision prior to the next move in the game through an artistic language that is remarkable in its lack of superfluous detail.

Kegelspiel in Metaphysischer Landschaft was painted during a period of artistic and personal rejuvenation for Baumeister following the adversity and hardship he had experienced during the Second World War. In October 1945 the artist exhibited for the first time in Germany since the previous decade, and his work flourished once again within a cultural and social climate that, in contrast to the traumatic environment of the late 1930s and early 1940s, welcomed experimentation within art. Baumeister’s palette saw a corresponding lightening of tones that arguably reflected this positive change in circumstances and his delight at being able to return to the Academy of Art in Stuttgart, his hometown, as a teacher and director. The series of Metaphysical Landscapes created during this period epitomise Baumeister’s newly re-discovered artistic assurance, and are amongst the most technically confident and stylistically advanced paintings of his career, displaying the artist’s utterly distinctive painterly language to magnificent advantage.