261 - François Morellet* (1926-2016), Maquette (preliminary study)

François Morellet* (1926-2016), Maquette (preliminary study) Collage (black tape on paper). 75.5 x 75.5 cm. Inscribed in pencil at the bottom center: maquette originale (!). Also inscribed there: pour Willi de Francois. François Morellet is one of the most important representatives of European Constructivist-Concrete art and geometric abstraction. His work, developed since the 1950s, is characterized by clear lines, geometric structures, and strictly defined systems. Morellet combined mathematical order with chance, irony, and deliberately placed deviations. Characteristic of his work is the reduction to elementary forms and serial structures. Lines, grids, angles, and light become independent pictorial elements that simultaneously confront the viewer with questions of perception, space, and order. In this way, Morellet succeeded in combining the apparent rigor of geometric art with a playful and often surprising dynamism.