About the work
From orange through various shades of yellow, the bands of colour ascend here to blue in the top half of the painting. Zig-zag lines between the individual stripes lend this Colour Chromaticism a special dynamic expression. Heinz Mack works these from the bottom orange into the yellow above, then from the darker into the somewhat lighter shade of yellow, from yellow into the green colour field and from green into the blue segment. He then changes direction, and the tips of the colour edges project down from the top. The blue band of colour slightly above the centre of the painting becomes the centre of the work due to this accentuation.
The colour development seems both powerful and lyrical. This expression is especially promoted by the material of the pastel chalk, because the artist can create fine colour transitions on the rough handmade paper with it and at the same time emphasise with clear lines. The pigment in the pastel chalk also appears to be especially pure, brilliant and bright, so that one can comprehend that pastel is an especially suitable medium for Mack’s will to form.
Text authored and provided by Dr Andrea Fink, art historian
The art historian, curator and freelance publicist Andrea Fink studied art history, cultural studies and humanities, modern history and philosophy in Bochum and Vienna. Doctorate in 2007 on the work of the Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay. As a freelance curator and art consultant, her clients include, among others, the Kunstverein (art association) Ahlen, Kunstverein Soest, Wella Museum, Museum am Ostwall Dortmund, ThyssenKrupp AG, Kulturstiftung Ruhr, Osthaus Museum Hagen, Franz Haniel GmbH, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria.
