.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
WHEN WILLI BAUMEISTER DIED OF A HEART ATTACK AT HIS EASEL ON THE 31 OF AUGUST 1955 HE WAS AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS POWERS. THE PAINTINGS OF BAUMESITER'S LAST YEARS MARK THE CULMINATION OF A LONG AND REMARKABLE CAREER THAT MORE THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER GERMAN ARTIST OF HIS GENERATION FORMS A LINK WITH THE AVANT-GARDE IN GERMANY BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE NAZI ERA. AS HIS FRIEND THE CRITIC WILL GROHMAN WROTE, DURING THE 1950S, "BAUMEISTER WAS MORE INDEPENDENT AND INVENTIVE THAN EVER BEFORE. THERE WAS NOT A SIGN THAT HE WAS OVER SIXTY; INDEED HIS VITALITY AND INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY HAD INCREASED. HE ENJOYED BEING IN FULL POSSESSION OF HIS FACULTIES AND ABLE TO DO AS HE PLEASED WITH THE MEDIA AND TECHNIQUES HE HAD MASTERED."
THESE LAST YEARS MARKED THE PERIOD OF BAUMEISTER'S FINEST ACHIEVEMENTS , ACHIEVEMENTS THAT ARE CHARACTERISED BY THE EVOLUTION OF HIS "METAPHYSICAL LANDSCAPE" SERIES AND HIS "FLIGHT OF THE CONTINENTS" INTO THE GREAT LAST SERIES OF WORKS TO WHICH HE GAVE THE NAMES, THE "SAFER", THE "PHANTOMS", THE "KESSAUA" THE "FAUST" , THE "ARU" , THE "MONTARU" AND THE "MONTURI". FAUST-STUDIE , AS ITS NAME SUGGESTS, BELONGS TO THE FAUST SERIES WHICH PREOCCUPIED BAUMEISTER FOR MUCH OF 1953 AND WHICH, STYLISTICALLY, LIES SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE PHANTOM SERIES AND THE MONTARU. AS WITH ALL THESE LAST SERIES OF WORKS BAUMEISTER NAMED THE FAUST PAINTINGS PREDOMINANTLY WITH REGARD TO THE FEELINGS GENERATED BY THE WORK. FOR GOETHE FAUST WAS "A NOBLE MEMBER OF THE SPIRIT WORLD" AND IT IS AS A PHANTOM THAT BAUMEISTER RESPONDS TO THIS GIANT LITERARY FIGURE. INDEED, IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE A PARTICULAR PERSONALITY WAS BEGINNING TO EMERGE FROM HIS PHANTOM PAINTINGS THAT HE SETTLED ON NAMING THESE WORKS AFTER GOETHE'S HERO. IT IS WIDELY AGREED THAT THESE WORKS BEAR LITTLE OR NO CONCRETE RELATIONSHIP TO GOETHE'S POEM BUT THEIR PHANTOM-LIKE NATURE, HOVERING BETWEEN THE FIGURATIVE AND ABSTRACT REALMS, DOES SUGGEST POSSIBLE SCENES OF APPARITION FROM BOTH THE POEM AND THE PLAY. IN FAUST-STUDIE THE "FAUST-FIGURE" IS COMPOSITIONALLY BALANCED BY A MOUNTAIN-LIKE SHAPE THAT BAUMEISTER MAY HAVE INTENDED AS A PHANTOM FIGURE, FOR THE PAINTING, EXECUTED IN JANUARY OF 1953, APPEARS, ON STYLISTIC GROUNDS, TO BE THE FIRST WORKING OF FAUST UND PHANTOM WHICH ALSO DATES FROM THIS MONTH. IT IS HOWEVER, IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT, ON THE WHOLE, BAUMEISTER, LIKE HIS FORMER TEACHERS AT THE BAUHAUS, KANDINSKY AND KLEE, WAS PAINTING WITH THE CONSCIOUS AIM OF GENERATING A SENSE OF COSMIC MYSTERY AND OF UNVERSALITY. THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF PURE FORM AND COLOUR, HIS ART WAS DELIBERATELY INTENDED TO HOVER AMBIGUOUSLY BETWEEN THE REALMS OF THE FIGURATIVE AND THE ABSTRACT. THE POSSIBLE FIGURE THAT SEEMS TO EMERGE IN HIS FAUST PAINTINGS - A SPECTRAL BLACK FIGURE MADE UP OF "FLYING CONTINENTS" HALFWAY BETWEEN THE KESSAUA AND THE MONTARU FORMS - SEEMS ALSO TO HOVER BETWEEN TWO REALMS, UNSURE, LIKE FAUST HIMSELF PERHAPS, AS TO WHERE HE REALLY BELONGS.
THESE LAST YEARS MARKED THE PERIOD OF BAUMEISTER'S FINEST ACHIEVEMENTS , ACHIEVEMENTS THAT ARE CHARACTERISED BY THE EVOLUTION OF HIS "METAPHYSICAL LANDSCAPE" SERIES AND HIS "FLIGHT OF THE CONTINENTS" INTO THE GREAT LAST SERIES OF WORKS TO WHICH HE GAVE THE NAMES, THE "SAFER", THE "PHANTOMS", THE "KESSAUA" THE "FAUST" , THE "ARU" , THE "MONTARU" AND THE "MONTURI". FAUST-STUDIE , AS ITS NAME SUGGESTS, BELONGS TO THE FAUST SERIES WHICH PREOCCUPIED BAUMEISTER FOR MUCH OF 1953 AND WHICH, STYLISTICALLY, LIES SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE PHANTOM SERIES AND THE MONTARU. AS WITH ALL THESE LAST SERIES OF WORKS BAUMEISTER NAMED THE FAUST PAINTINGS PREDOMINANTLY WITH REGARD TO THE FEELINGS GENERATED BY THE WORK. FOR GOETHE FAUST WAS "A NOBLE MEMBER OF THE SPIRIT WORLD" AND IT IS AS A PHANTOM THAT BAUMEISTER RESPONDS TO THIS GIANT LITERARY FIGURE. INDEED, IT IS PROBABLY BECAUSE A PARTICULAR PERSONALITY WAS BEGINNING TO EMERGE FROM HIS PHANTOM PAINTINGS THAT HE SETTLED ON NAMING THESE WORKS AFTER GOETHE'S HERO. IT IS WIDELY AGREED THAT THESE WORKS BEAR LITTLE OR NO CONCRETE RELATIONSHIP TO GOETHE'S POEM BUT THEIR PHANTOM-LIKE NATURE, HOVERING BETWEEN THE FIGURATIVE AND ABSTRACT REALMS, DOES SUGGEST POSSIBLE SCENES OF APPARITION FROM BOTH THE POEM AND THE PLAY. IN FAUST-STUDIE THE "FAUST-FIGURE" IS COMPOSITIONALLY BALANCED BY A MOUNTAIN-LIKE SHAPE THAT BAUMEISTER MAY HAVE INTENDED AS A PHANTOM FIGURE, FOR THE PAINTING, EXECUTED IN JANUARY OF 1953, APPEARS, ON STYLISTIC GROUNDS, TO BE THE FIRST WORKING OF FAUST UND PHANTOM WHICH ALSO DATES FROM THIS MONTH. IT IS HOWEVER, IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT, ON THE WHOLE, BAUMEISTER, LIKE HIS FORMER TEACHERS AT THE BAUHAUS, KANDINSKY AND KLEE, WAS PAINTING WITH THE CONSCIOUS AIM OF GENERATING A SENSE OF COSMIC MYSTERY AND OF UNVERSALITY. THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF PURE FORM AND COLOUR, HIS ART WAS DELIBERATELY INTENDED TO HOVER AMBIGUOUSLY BETWEEN THE REALMS OF THE FIGURATIVE AND THE ABSTRACT. THE POSSIBLE FIGURE THAT SEEMS TO EMERGE IN HIS FAUST PAINTINGS - A SPECTRAL BLACK FIGURE MADE UP OF "FLYING CONTINENTS" HALFWAY BETWEEN THE KESSAUA AND THE MONTARU FORMS - SEEMS ALSO TO HOVER BETWEEN TWO REALMS, UNSURE, LIKE FAUST HIMSELF PERHAPS, AS TO WHERE HE REALLY BELONGS.