Thorax by Reinhold Koehler on artnet

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Artist:: Reinhold Koehler
(German, 1919–1970)
Title:: Thorax,
1964
Medium:: Décollage with ink, paper and smashed glass laid down on canvas
Size:: 72.5 x 50 cm. (28.5 x 19.7 in.)
Price:: Price on Request
Markings:: Signed and dated lower right; signed, dated, titled and inscribed verso
Provenance:: Private Collection, Germany.
Image Rights:: Courtesy of Whitford Fine Art
: Contact Gallery About This Work

Description:: In 1963, Koehler reached new creative heights with the production of his unique glass and ceramic collages known as 'Contre-Collages'. One expression involved layers of paper sourced from fashion patterns, medical advertisements, magazines and printing materials glued onto a piece of glass, which Koehler then smashed with a hammer. He would then cover the broken glass with black or coloured ink allowing it to seep into the cracks, leaving an organic linear image on the paper underneath. Other expressions were more sculptural and involved glass bottles and ceramic plates which he smashed and mounted onto canvas, usually painted white but at times covered with pattern paper.

The present work bears testimony to Koehler's powerful creative mind and individual expression which can be situated within the central tenets of the German 1950s Avant-Garde, matching the artistic endeavours of artists such as Otto Piene, Heinz Mack, Emil Schumacher and Wolf Vostell, amongst others.

The work of Koehler is in the following museums: Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden; Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen; Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld; Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum; Museumlandschaft Hessen, Kassel; Goethe Institut, Munich; Städtische Galerie, Wolfsburg; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna; The European Parliament, House of Europan History, Brussels.

English (US)

Reinhold Koehler