234 - Ulrich Erben (1940), Untitled (Abstract Composition), 1983

Ulrich Erben (1940), Untitled (Abstract Composition), 1983 Mixed media on paper. 52 x 87 cm. Signed and dated lower right: Erben 83 (pencil), inscribed on the reverse on a label: Galerie Schnake, Münster. Framed under glass and described as such. The composition of the work does not conceal its roots in landscape painting, while at the same time highlighting the fundamental importance of light and structure that define Erben’s work. The German painter Ulrich Erben has been among the leading figures of analytical and color-oriented abstract painting in Germany since the 1960s. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Perugia and at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. Starting from still lifes and landscape painting, Erben developed a minimalist visual language focused on color, surface, and spatial effect. His paintings are characterized by clear geometric structures, precisely placed color fields, and a subtle balance of light and space. In seemingly simple compositions, an intense painterly tension unfolds, arising from minimal shifts in proportion, hue, and rhythm. Erben has exhibited internationally since the 1970s. For over 25 years, he shaped a younger generation of artists as a professor at the Münster Academy of Fine Arts. Provenance: Private collection, Rhineland.