The Painting as a Scale
“Every composition among the 223 paintings by artist Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart is a balancing act,” explains Roman Zieglgänsberger in the catalog for the much-discussed exhibition, which was on view at the Museum Wiesbaden until February of this year (Exh. Cat. KörperGeometrie. Ilse Leda and Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, Berlin 2026, p. 19).
Using various geometric shapes and open spaces, Vordemberge-Gildewart creates perfectly balanced compositions or “constructions” in ideal arrangement and proportion. ”In Vordemberge-Gildewart’s work [we have] a pictorial surface that initially appears to be asymmetrically divided, then, however, has been so skillfully designed by the artist that a harmonious equilibrium in a state of suspension ultimately emerges.” (Roman Zieglgänsberger, ibid., p. 21)
In the early 1920s, the artist’s works crossed the boundary into pure abstraction, containing no references to reality whatsoever. Instead, his works play with equilibrium and disequilibrium through abstract forms, elevating their inherent balance to the actual artistic theme: the perfect construction becomes the pictorial motif.
As a member of the artist group “De Stijl”, Vordemberge-Gildewart recognized the “new sense of time” of that era (De Stijl Manifesto), in which the “object […] does not exist at all”. (Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, Der Gegenstand, 1933, cited in: ibid., p. 23)


From Craft to Art
As the son of a carpenter, the young Vordemberge followed in his father's footsteps and began training as a carpenter. He mastered a wide range of technical skills, including precise drawing, proportion, and woodworking, and created designs and intricate inlays before enrolling in the interior design program at the School of Applied Arts in Hanover in 1919. Drawings and designs demonstrate his ability to create geometric and abstract forms even during these early years. Vordemberge-Gildewart’s art evolved from craftsmanship: his technical skills formed the foundation of his entire artistic oeuvre. Beginning in 1920, the aspiring artist adopted the name “Vordemberge-Gildewart” to distinguish himself from his cousin of the same name, who was likewise active as a visual artist. The new name goes hand in hand with his decision to pursue an artistic career—it establishes his identity and attests to the early independence of the young V-G, as he would later be known.


1924: “A Time of Great Events” (V-G)
In the immediate aftermath of World War I, a spirit of optimism prevailed in Germany, and Hanover was no exception. People were very open to contemporary artistic movements; a creative atmosphere permeated the vibrant art scene, and the city was gradually emerging as a center of avant-garde trends. Kurt Schwitters and El Lissitzky lived and worked in Hanover, and the Kestner Society, founded in 1916, attracted attention through numerous progressive exhibitions. V-G began to focus intensively on the contemporary avant-garde. He maintained very friendly relations with Nelly and Theo van Doesburg, former long-time owners of the work offered here, and through whom V-G, in turn, came into contact with the Dutch De Stijl movement centered around Piet Mondrian. Through El Lissitzky, he became acquainted with, among other things, Russian Suprematism centered around Kazimir Malevich. He followed the work of the Bauhaus artists with great interest, particularly that of Johannes Itten and Wassily Kandinsky, and maintained close friendships with László Moholy-Nagy and Kurt Schwitters.

Starting in 1923, he began creating his initially relief-like “Konstructionen” (Constructions, abbreviated as ‘K’ and sequentially numbered) using a variety of materials, including wood, paper/cardboard, and oil paint. Later, V-G incorporated only individual, mostly geometrically shaped wooden fragments or narrow strips; from around 1930 onward, the “Konstruktionen” took the form of pure oil paintings on canvas.
In his essay “Gruppe K,” Vordemberge-Gildewart expresses his progressive artistic drive at the time: “Create! And do not paint, model, chatter, or doze. Create! As a person of today. Without regard for grandfathers or the future.” (Quoted from: ibid., p. 24)

Even with his earliest works, V-G propelled himself right into the heart of the German avant-garde scene. “Other artists struggle through the experimental stages of an entire early body of work. Not so Vordemberge-Gildewart. […] Vordemberge-Gildewart immediately became V-G: Hanover witnessed the meteoric rise of an artist who would retain his visual language once established and maintain his high standard of quality despite all changes." (Stefan Lüddemann, Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart, Cologne 2024, p. 25)

According to V-G, the year 1924, when the work offered here was created, was “a time of great events” (quoted from: exhibition catalog KörperGeometrie, Wiesbaden, 2026, p. 132).
In 1924, the young artist took over the studio provided by the Kestner-Gesellschaft, founded the artist group “Gruppe K” together with Hans Nitzschke, established contacts with Kurt Schwitters and Hans Arp, and presented his works to the public for the first time in two group exhibitions organized by the artist group. “K 3” was also part of the highly significant first exhibition at the Kestner-Gesellschaft in Hanover in the year of its creation, for which V-G also designed the accompanying catalog.

Key Work “K 3”: Vordemberge-Gildewart and the International Avant-Garde
On the one hand, “K 3” documents the tremendous artistic achievement of the geometric avant-garde in the post-war years: “the revolutionary idea of a formal-constructive framework as an independent subject, not merely allowing it but declaring it the sole and all-encompassing primary task of a free artistic work” (Roman Zieglgänsberger, quoted from: ibid., p. 20).
In V-G’s oeuvre, however, “K 3” is, above all, a key work that plays a significant role in the formation of his concise visual language and, consequently, in his self-discovery as an artist.
With its clear composition, precise arrangement, and harmonious interplay of diverse forms made of wood, various papers, and colored accents, the work visualizes Vordemberge-Gildewart’s artistic DNA—the central design principles of his art—through which he made a significant contribution to the European avant-garde.

Vordemberge-Gildewart’s important early works from the 1920s are in major museum collections worldwide, including, among others, the Kunstmuseum, The Hague (“K 5” and “K 31”), the Sprengel Museum, Hanover (“K 6” and “K 19”), the Kunsthaus Zürich (“K 7”), the Nationalgalerie Berlin (“K 8”), the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh (“K 14”), the Tate Gallery, London (“K 15”), the Kunsthalle Bremen (“K 18”), the Museum of Modern Art, New York (“K 23” and “K 37”), the Musée National d’Art Moderne / Centre George Pompidou, Paris (“K 24”), the Pinakothek der Moderne, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich (“K 25”), the Kunstmuseen Krefeld (“K 28”), the Hamburger Kunsthalle (“K 29”), and the Museum Wiesbaden (“K 35”). [CH]