Ernst Wilhelm Nay

Ernst Wilhelm Nay (1902-1968) used color as the theme of his art. It was the means and the goal of his work, not only in his paintings but also in most of the gouaches, watercolors, and drawings. This publication presents a good 110 works on paper, reflecting the development of the artist throughout his career. From the 1937 images of Lofoten, with their intense depictions of nature, to the postwar Hecate pictures, which still contain figurative elements, the energy of the colors can be seen as they continue to unfold ever more freely in the subsequent Fugal paintings. In 1955 the disc became his predominant visual motif, and Nay guided the colors to create peaceful harmonies. In 1963 he began crossing out the discs, almost automatically forming the shape of an eye, and in his final paintings he pared back the intensified drama of the eye pictures, reducing the colors to an ornamental juxtaposition of planes.