(Leipzig 1904–1989 Antibes)
T 1964 - E 40, 1964, signed, dated Hartung 64, titled and inscribed and with directional arrow on the stretcher, acrylic on canvas, 81 x 130 cm, framed

This work is registered at the Foundation Hans Hartung and Anna-Eva Bergman, Antibes, and will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné being prepared by the Foundation Hartung Bergman, Antibes (confirmation via email 3. October 2022).

Provenance:
Galerie Kallenbach, Munich
Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia
Ketterer Kunst, Munich, 18 June 2021, lot 302 - acquired there by the present owner

Hans Hartung's entire oeuvre is characterised by abstract, non-objective painting. This interplay of light and shadow, structure, texture and airiness would become the formative elements of his later works. The non-figurative painting T 1964 - E 40 offered here also belongs to his catalogue of work. The canvas is primed in yellow, the upper part of the painting is dipped in a rich black. Above this is a layer of dark blue paint splashes with white accents, which the artist has worked on with a steel brush and scraper. A particular focus of the work is the complementary contrast of blue and yellow as well as the contrast between surface and stroke. The pictorial space is composed of light, shadow and their contrast.

The multitude of brushstrokes and scratches, the result of the painter's activity on the canvas, represent Hartung's style of the 1960s. The compositional scheme of the work offered here is reminiscent of the depiction of fireworks. The rockets explode in the night sky and colour it a sulphurous yellow.

“The first and most important thing is to remain free, free in each line you undertake, in your ideas and in your political action, in your moral conduct. The artist especially must remain free from all outer restraints.”
Hans Hartung