Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart
1899 - 1962

Konstruktion No. 3 (K 3). 1924.
Collage with oil, pencil, and wood on paper.
Monogrammed and dated in the lower left corner. With the artist's label on the reverse. In the artist's original frame: 74 x 62 cm (29.1 x 24.4 in).
In the original frame. In his studio journal, the artist notes: “Collage mounted on wood, in a gold frame with a wide black border”. [CH].

• As an absolute pioneer in visual arts of his time, Vordemberge-Gildewart is considered one of the leading abstract artists of the early 20th century.
• A particularly rarity: Vordemberge-Gildewart’s groundbreaking constructions and early compositions are extremely rare on the international auction market.
• In the year of its creation, Vordemberge-Gildewart exhibited his works in public for the first time (Gruppe K, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover).
• Part of a private collection in Southern Germany for 40 years.
• Today, comparable works can be found at, among others, the Sprengel Museum in Hanover, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Tate in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
• Most recently, his work was honored in the comprehensive exhibition “KörperGeometrie. Ilse Leda and Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart” at the Museum Wiesbaden (2025/26).

The work is listed in the online catalog of the Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation: https://vordemberge-gildewart.eu/the-new-oeuvre/catalogue/paintings/k-3/.

We are grateful to Dr. Arta Valstar-Verhoff of the Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation (Switzerland) for her kind expert advice.

PROVENANCE: Van Doesburg Collection, Meudon (directly from the artist).
Estate of Nelly van Doesburg (1899–1975) / Wies Leering-Van Moorsel.
Collection of Ilse Leda-Vordemberge (1906–1981), Rapperswil (from the aforementioned).
Estate of the artist / Vordemberge-Gildewart Foundation, Rapperswil.
Annely Juda Fine Art, London (with the gallery label on the reverse).
Private collection, Southern Germany (acquired from the aforementioned in 1985).

EXHIBITION: Group K, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, May 1924 (no catalog, exhibition label on the reverse).
Group K, Sonnenhof, Bad Harzburg, 1924 (no catalog, fragment of an exhibition label with handwritten inscription on the reverse).
Group K, Carl-Heinz Kroll, Max Olderrock – Gesamtschau (144th Exhibition), Galerie Der Sturm, Sept. 1925, cat. no. 3 (with the exhibition label on the reverse).
L’Art d’Aujourd’hui. International Exhibition: Halls of the Art Dealers’ Guild, Paris, Nov. 30–Dec. 21, 1925, cat. no. 236.
Stedelijk van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (with the exhibition label on the reverse).
Camille Graeser, Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, Franz Danksin, Kunsthalle Basel, March 18–April 23, 1967, cat. no. 65 (illustrated, with the exhibition label on the reverse).
Vordemberge-Gildewart Remembered, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, July 4–September 14, 1974, p. 11 (with ill.).
Collages and Reliefs 1910–1945, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, June 30–October 2, 1982; La Boetie Inc., New York, October 23–December 31, 1982, cat. no. 69 (illustrated on p. 70).
The 1st Russian Show. A Commemoration of the Van Diemen Exhibition - Berlin - 1922, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, Sept. 15–Dec. 3, 1983, cat. no. 108 (illustrated on p. 174, with the exhibition label on the reverse).

LITERATURE: Hans L. C. Jaffé, Vordemberge-Gildewart: Life and Work, Cologne 1971, CR no. 5 (illustrated).
Dietrich Helms, Arta Valstar-Verhoff, Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart: The Complete Works, Munich 1990, CR no. K3 (illustrated in black and white).
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Richard P. Lohse (ed.), Vordemberge-Gildewart. A Pictorial Biography, Teufen (CH) 1959, p. 7 (illustrated, no. 7).
Willy Rotzler, Vordemberge-Gildewart (Series: Artists of Our Time), Vol. 21, St. Gallen 1979, p. 35 (illustrated).