Bringing together a range of work by important 20th-century artists, the presentation offers new perspectives on the evolving use of color in art.
Color has stood as a cornerstone of visual art for millennia, however, its deployment, symbolism, and quality has evolved and changed across generations of artists and with various prevailing artistic trends. At TEFAF Maastricht, taking place March 15-20, 2025, Galerie Henze and Ketterer are set to debut a presentation that takes sharp focus on one particular color scheme that marked a distinctive shift in the use of color in the 20th century: "Between Red and Blue: A Modern Dialogue." Featuring artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Emil Nolde, and George Grosz, just to name a few, the exhibition showcases how the contrast and various qualities of red and blue reflected a profound change in artist's approach to hue overall.
A highlight of the presentation are several works -- both paintings and works on paper -- by Kirchner, an apropos inclusion as Galerie Henze and Ketterer has managed the estate and archive of the artist since the mid-1950s. Bringing exceptional pieces from Kirchner's oeuvre that specifically reflect the powerful employment of red and blue, the move away from color as a tool for representation or even rigid symbolism is highlighted. Instead, Kirchner uses color as a means of developing a new type of symbolism, one where subjective emotion and myriad themes of lived experience become the focus.
While the color red is often associated with passion and fiery feelings, and conversely blue with tranquility, within the gallery's exhibition, each respective color is shown to have a much broader and more malleable connotation. As can be seen in works like Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's Stilleben mit Holzplastik (Still-life with wooden Sculpture) (1949), the compositional approach alludes to artistic styles of the prior century, however, the bold contrasts and palette convey a distinctly modern air. Similarly, in Max Pechstein's Walliser Hütten (bei Saas Almagell) (1949), while the use of red and blue parallels life, their saturation and painterly quality present a profound, psychologically charged element to the composition.
Galerie Henze and Ketterer has maintained a concentration on and dedication to Expressionism for decades, lending to a premier expertise in the various expressions of color across the 20th century as well as the Brücke artists' association and their unique employment of color. With the presentation of "Between Red and Blue: A Modern Dialogue," visitors to the fair will not only gain insight into the breadth of the gallery's specialization, but have the opportunity to explore one of art history's most singularly important and expressive uses of color.