639 - SCHUMACHER, EMIL

SCHUMACHER, EMIL 1912 Hagen–1999 San José/Ibiza Title: "Horeb". Date: 1972. Technique: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 100 x 141 cm. Notation: Signed and dated lower left: Schumacher 72. Signed, dated, and titled on the reverse at the top of the stretcher: Schumacher 1972 Title: HOREB. Additional work details are provided here. Frame: Framed. The painting is listed under inventory number 0/339 in the catalog of the Emil Schumacher Foundation compiled by Dr. Ulrich Schumacher. We are grateful to Mr. Rouven Lotz, Director of the Emil Schumacher Museum in Hagen, for his kind scholarly support. Provenance: - Galerie Veith Turske, Cologne - Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia (acquired from the previous owner in 1976) Exhibitions: - Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum, Hagen, 1975 - Neue Galerie, Linz, 1976 - Galerie Veit Turske, Cologne, 1976/77 - Kunstverein Braunschweig, 1978 - From the artist’s mature creative period, during which he developed his Informel visual language to a particularly intense level - An extraordinarily fascinating, relief-like presence in space—on the border between painting and object - In the family’s possession for 50 years Emil Schumacher is one of the most significant figures in postwar European painting and, as a central figure of German Informel, has had a lasting influence on the development of abstract art. Born in Hagen in 1912, he developed a distinctive visual language after 1945 in which color, material, and brushwork merge into an immediate, almost existential style. His works do not arise from a predetermined concept but from a process-oriented, often intuitive approach that places the act of painting itself at the center. International exhibitions, including several participations in the documenta in Kassel, brought his work to worldwide attention early on and firmly established him in the canon of postwar art. Characteristic of his painting is his intense, almost physical engagement with the canvas, in which the surface becomes the actual medium of artistic expression and the boundary between image and object increasingly blurs. The painting “Horeb,” created in 1972, is a striking example of this characteristic approach. The composition is dominated by a massive, dark field of color that lies heavily and almost impenetrably across the picture plane. Using impasto and relief-like textures, Schumacher condenses the paint into an almost sculptural surface. The torn, partially blackened layers of material reveal traces of the painting process and lend the work a strong physical presence. Scraping, layering, and overlaying—all these interventions remain inscribed in the painting and bear witness to an intense engagement with the material. In the center, a luminous, turquoise field opens up, appearing like an inner pictorial space and forming a stark contrast to the surrounding darkness. This tension between densification and openness, between light and heaviness, is one of Schumacher’s central artistic devices. Color appears here not merely as a visual element, but as a substance possessing weight, resistance, and depth. It is precisely in this combination of painterly gesture and material presence that the work’s special impact lies. The title “Horeb,” named after the biblical mountain of God, reinforces the composition’s evocative power. It opens up spaces for association without dictating a single interpretation. The painting can be interpreted both as an imaginary, archaic landscape and as an expression of an eruptive, inner movement. In this openness, Schumacher combines elemental power with a quiet, almost meditative effect. The exposed sections of canvas at the edges contrast with the dense materiality of the center, creating a dynamic spatial tension that continually redirects the viewer’s gaze. With its powerful and physical pictorial structure, “Horeb” exemplifies Emil Schumacher’s mature creative phase in the early 1970s—a time when the artist brought his informal visual language to a particular intensity. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: This lot is not suitable for parcel shipping. Transportation is available only through a shipping company following consultation after the auction. Additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance Up to a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: max. 41.65 euros Over a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: 1.8 per thousand Shipping to the USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Emil Schumacher #Informel #Germany #Post-War Art #Painting #Abstract #Oil #1970s #Post War. In accordance with §26 UrhG (German Copyright Act), VAN HAM is obligated to pay a statutory resale royalty on the sale proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography whose authors have not been deceased for 70 years prior to the end of the calendar year of the sale. The buyer shall contribute 1.5% of the hammer price toward this fee.