Rupprecht Geiger - Bluish Red and Blue-Black

Rupprecht Geiger’s Bluish Red and Blue-Black (1961) is a very early screenprint on cardboard, belonging to a rare edition of 50 where the artist introduced different color variations. In this version, a rich red form emerges against fields of deep blue and black, creating a dynamic contrast that epitomizes Geiger’s radical use of pure color. Each artwork in the edition is hand-signed and numbered, underscoring its rarity and importance within Geiger’s 1960s production. This artwork demonstrates the artist’s exploration of chromatic intensity, where shifts in palette completely alter the visual and emotional resonance.

Rupprecht Geiger (German, 1908 – 2009) was a central figure in the color field painting movement, renowned for his vivid use of color and geometric forms. Son of the artist Willi Geiger, Rupprecht’s artistic journey was deeply rooted in his family’s creative environment, spanning architecture, painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Geiger’s artwork is distinguished by its hard-edged geometric shapes coupled with a rich color palette, particularly his expressive use of red. This distinctive style resonated with the abstract art movement and made his pieces visually engaging and emotionally evocative. His exploration in printmaking further extended his artistic language, allowing him to experiment with color and form in diverse mediums. In 1949, alongside Willi Baumeister and Fritz Winter, Geiger co-founded Zen 49 in Munich. This group significantly contributed to developing new expressions in non-objective art post-World War II in Germany. By the early 1960s, Rupprecht Geiger shifted his focus entirely to painting and printmaking, driven by his profound interest in color dynamics. Geiger’s fascination with color, especially red, was not merely aesthetic but symbolized life, energy, and power. This perspective was vividly reflected in his artworks. Rupprecht Geiger achieved worldwide critical acclaim, participating in documenta 2,3,4 and 6, as well as exhibiting at the Museum for Non-Objective Painting (later the Guggenheim) alongside his Professorship at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Major retrospectives have been held at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Lenbachhaus in Munich (1978 and 2008) and Akademie der Künste in Berlin (1985).