The minimalist paintings of the late 1950s and early 1960s form a special group of works in Rupprecht Geiger's early oeuvre. In addition to circular forms, the rectangle as a field of even distribution is at the center of his work in this phase, which is enhanced by gentle color modulations to create a meditative color space. In contrast to his later creations, which are mostly in neon tones, the palette around 1960 is still dominated by warm reds and nuanced blues, which often appear in combination but also in isolation from one another.
In the painting from 1960 offered here, Geiger reinforces the color blue, which is so important in his oeuvre, through the use of modulated, graduated shades of black. He places the blue circle in a powerful tension with the gently darkening black and the red on the right-hand side, which transitions into black in the opposite direction. The intention to further increase the expressive potential of color and ultimately allow it to take effect as an autonomous force is intensely palpable in this painting. [EH]