君特·弗格

Private Collection, Germany (acquired from the artist)

Galleri K, Oslo

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1997

Oslo, Galleri K, Group Show, 1997

London, White Cube, Günther Förg: Lead Paintings, June - July 2015

Colour: The colour in the catalogue illustration is fairly accurate. Condition: Please refer to the department for a professional condition report.
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Monolithic in size and presented in a rare diptych format, Untitled is a pioneering example of Günther Förg’s iconic Lead Paintings, other examples of which are held in important public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Begun in the mid-1980s, this highly sought-after body of work powerfully conveys a rigorous understanding of the art historical tenets of Modernism and Abstract Expressionism, whilst simultaneously appearing utterly forward-thinking. This standout series calls upon the authentic planarity of colour field painting whilst establishing an altogether new architectural territory for the medium by introducing lead as a radical new ground. Through a bold annunciation of unadulterated pigments and their dramatic interaction with the unprimed metal, the two panels of Untitled masterfully re-negotiate the trajectory of Minimalist painting and propel its pioneering creator into the annals of art history. Untitled testifies to the emphatic nature of Förg’s artistry, exemplifies his stylistic ingenuity, and confirms his innovative creative approach, focussing on the materiality of art in its most untreated and raw state.

Having studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich from 1973-76 and having been inspired by the Suprematist ideals of Kazimir Malevich, Förg’s early artistic output was dominated by black monochromes that echoed the Russian master’s ground-breaking Black Square of 1915. These early experiments with the black monochrome were to have a significant impact on his infamous Lead Paintings; Förg’s particular use of acrylic with the addition of a translucent grey, offered a peculiar surface effect and one that gave birth to his career-defining preoccupation with the properties of materials. Förg’s process-based methods use chemical reactions, and innovative and unconventional metal grounds in their execution. Instead of using traditional canvases, Förg’s Lead Paintings are made by wrapping sheets of lead, sometimes in several layers, around a wooden frame or panel, before painting directly onto them with no treatment or preparatory ground. In the present two panels, the oxidised patina of the lead surfaces and their textural striations emphasise the solidity of the supports, imbuing the work with an innate gravitas. Recounting his decision to use lead, Förg remarked: “I like very much the qualities of lead – the surface, the heaviness. Some of the paintings were completely painted, and you only experience the lead at the edges; this gives the painting a very heavy feeling – it gives the colour a different density and weight. In other works the materials would be explicitly visible as grounds. I like to react on things, with the normal canvas you have to kill the ground, give it something to react against. With the metals you already have something – its scratches, scrapes…” (Günther Förg in conversation with David Ryan, in: David Ryan, Talking Painting: Dialogue with Twelve Contemporary Abstract Painters, London 2002, p. 77).

The bold yet simple compositional schema of Untitled provides a striking confrontation between the expansive plum paint and the cool silvery surface of the lead. With the dispersion of these elemental colours the artist mirrors the design-centric focus of Piet Mondrian and De Stijl. Equally, the sublime use of hazy colour and sense of geometry recalls Mark Rothko’s extraordinary colour field paintings and Barnett Newman’s iconic Zip works. Yet our ability to absorb the spiritually enveloping capacities of the work is compromised by Förg’s rational insistence on raw materiality. Utilising the unique properties of a base element of the periodic table, the surface becomes an enlivened plateau of intriguing texture through natural oxidation heightened by gestural brushstrokes: here Förg posits himself as both artist and alchemist. An essay in pure formalism, Untitled is a superlative example of Förg’s career-defining Lead Paintings.