7178 - Berke, Hubert

Berke, Hubert [*] Abstract Composition Oil on painting board, mounted on wood. 1949. 48 x 30.6 cm. Signed lower left (scratched into the wet paint) “BERKE” and dated. An abstract composition of blue, black, and white elements, created in the early postwar period. Berke, a student of Paul Klee, joined the ZEN 49 artists’ group shortly thereafter, in 1951. Like the other members of ZEN, he sought paths to spiritual and artistic renewal. After the war, he developed his own dynamic abstraction and became known primarily as a painter of lyrical Informel. In doing so, Berke incorporated to a great extent both the spiritual attitude of Eastern philosophy and the rhythmic and improvised forms of jazz music into his multi-layered works. “The civilized world is worn out and desolate on the surface; generally, a rigid, mask-like quality prevails, and the world of the outward human being lacks humanity. Thus, we must give form to forces that operate behind the outward appearances of things. To make this possible requires taking a broad step back in order to see, behind the apparent isolation of things, a true order and the eternal.” (Hubert Berke 1953, cited from hubertberke.art, accessed August 5, 2026). - We ask that you request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is listed in the catalog only in exceptional cases. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.