About the work
Energies of colour and light, as well as their emotional and intellectual impact are at the core of the work of Rupprecht Geiger. He granted colour an elementary, inherent power of its own, which was meant to be sensually experienceable in his works. Harmonious colour progressions thus characterise the expression of the non-representational compositions. Radical reduction to the essence of colour and uncompromising clarity in composition define Geiger’s surface painting. This painting with the evocative title “Mehr Licht” is a profound example of this: the flowing transition from light yellow to deep red develops as a gentle process from bottom to top in the elongated landscape format. Through the special colour scheme in subtle gradations, Geiger declares the seemingly minimalist painting a living organism, in which the colouring elevates itself to pure sound, but at the same time vibrates and pulses. Geiger had a particularly strong affinity with the colour red; it has dominated many of his paintings since the 1950s: “Red is life, energy, potency, power, love, warmth, strength. The red colour in the atmosphere, the colourful light above all things provides the form with sensually enhanced expression. Red sources of light are spiritual matter”, is how the painter explained the inherent value of each colour.
(Andreas Gabelmann)
