The artists of the early 20th century were full of enthusiasm for the phenomenon of electric light, which opened up unforeseen possibilities for photography, film and kinetic sculpture. Bauhaus student Fritz Winter, who was to become one of Germany’s premier postwar abstract painters, was likewise obsessed in the 1930s with the metaphorical qualities and the aesthetic of light. He proved to be a virtuoso at incorporating the transparency of glass and crystal, as well as the reflections and luminosity of light, into his artworks. Exhibition and publication take a new approach to illuminating this innovative aspect of Winter’s early career. The light and crystal paintings he executed from 1934 to 1936 are juxtaposed with experimental photographs from the 1920s and 30s in order to highlight parallels between the period’s abstract painting and photography. Outstanding examples from Winter’s oeuvre are shown here alongside important international artworks, among them photograms by László Moholy-Nagy and Ernst Schwitters, crystal photographs by Alfred Ehrhardt, light abstractions by Francis Bruguière, and »vortographs« by Alvin Langdon Coburn.

Editor: Oliver Kase
Authors: Katrin Heidt, Oliver Kase

Hardcover
16,8 x 24 cm
144 pages
100 color ills.
German
available
ISBN 978-3-86828-320-4
28 Euro
2012