The Eye. 1966.
Mixed media. Watercolor, silkscreen and embossing print.
Signed and dated lower right. Verso signed, dedicated and inscribed "Herr X oder Frau /Fräulein X Dieses Blatt ist nicht beschädigt 30.V.74 O.P.". On light smooth board. 53 x 61.6 cm (20.8 x 24.2 in), the full sheet.

This work was presumably made in connection with the portfolio "Zero" that the Kestnergesellschaft in Hanover released in 1966. It contains three sheets by Mack, Piene and Uecker; Rottluff mentions Piene's contribution with the number 21 and with follwoing specifications: " Embossing print and drawing, 53 x 63 cm, 250 signed and numbered copies." The sheet from the "Zero" portfolio shows the eye and only one rainbow in the lower margin. This sheet pursues the image concept, several reflecting color arches are stacked and visualized through the artist's treatment of the surface's structure above the embossed eye. The glossy cardboard's surface was torn open by the artist - making the different color effects visible on two surface strructure levels. The motif of the rainbow appears in Otto Piene's oeuvre for the first time in 1966. It found its perfect application in context of his great sky event "Olympia - Regenbogen" on occassion of the final ceremony of the XX Olympic Games in Munich in 1972.

Minimally discolored. Upper edge with longer paper blemish, somewhat covered up. Lower right corner minimally scuffed. Four pinholes near embossing print owed to technique. In good condition.