Lot 8 
8
Emil Schumacher
Indemini, 1974.
Mixed media. Acrylic and asphalt on canvas
Estimate:
€ 150,000 / $ 174,000 Sold:
€ 167,700 / $ 194,532 (incl. surcharge)
Emil Schumacher
1912 - 1999
Indemini. 1974.
Mixed media. Acrylic and asphalt on canvas.
295.5 x 189.5 cm (116.3 x 74.6 in). [MH/JS].
• Monumental composition by the leading representative of German Informalism.
• Largest Schumacher painting ever offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• Archaic aesthetics: fascinating combination of Schumacher's gestural expressiveness with a haptic, impasto materiality.
• Published in the important Schumacher monograph by Werner Schmalenbach in 1981.
• Part of an acclaimed private collection in Berlin for over 30 years.
The work is registered in the archive of the Emil Schumacher Foundation, Hagen, under the inv. no. “0/342”.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Georg Nothelfer, Berlin.
Private collection, Berlin (acquired from the above in 1988).
EXHIBITION: Emil Schumacher. Arbeiten 1957 bis 1975, Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Feb. 1 to March 16, 1975 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher, Galerie der Stadt Linz, Oct. 7 to Nov. 6, 1976 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher. Bilder, Gouachen, Zeichnungen , Galerie Veith Trunke, Cologne, Dec. 10, 1976-Feb. 28, 1977 (illustrated).
12 depuis '45. Douze peintres allemands (12 Since '45. Twelve German Painters). Europalia '77 Federal Republic of Germany, Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Oct. 1–Nov. 27, 1977.
Emil Schumacher. Arbeiten 1949–1978, Kunstverein Brunswick, Oct. 6–Nov. 8, 1978, p. 135 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher. Works 1936-1984, Kunsthalle Bremen, October 14-November 25, 1984; Badischer Kunsverein, Karlsruhe, Jan. 12-March 10, 1985, p. 19 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher. Späte Bilder, Nationalgalerie Berlin, October 21–December 30, 1988; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, May 12–June 25, 1989 (with an illustration on p. 22).
Saarlandmuseum, Saarbrücken (on permanent loan until 2025).
LITERATURE: Werner Schmalenbach, Emil Schumacher, Cologne 1981, p. 141, cat. no. 69 (illustrated on p. 93).
Franz-Joseph van der Grinten, Friedhelm Mennekes, Mythos und Bibel. Auseinandersetzung mit einem Thema der Gegenwartskunst, Stuttgart 1985, p. 113 (illustrated).
Peter Winter, Farbspur und Materialspur, in: Weltkunst Zeitschrift für Kunst und Antiquitäten, vol. 55, no. 5, March 1, 1985, Munich 1985, p. 546 (illustrated).
Georg-W. Költzsch, Georg Nothelfer, Deutsches INFORMEL, Berlin 1986, p. 233 (illustrated).
Laszlo Beke, Dieter Honisch, Schumacher. Catalog accompanying the exhibition at the Kunsthalle Budapest 1989 (illustrated).
Michael Kant, Christoph Zuschlag, Emil Schumacher im Gespräch. “Der Erde näher als den Sternen,” Stuttgart 1992, p. 53 (illustrated).
Jürgen Wißmann, Emil Schumacher. Documenta III - Formlos und doch Form, Cologne 1992, p. 44 (illustrated).
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, Meisterwerke des 20. Jahrhunderts, Saarland Museum Saarbrücken. Die Sammlung des Saarland Museums Saarbrücken, Ostfildern-Ruit 1999, p. 186 (illustrated on p. 187).
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, Saarland Museum Saarbrücken - Moderne Galerie. Die Sammlung des Saarland-Museums Saarbrücken, Munich 1999, p. 101 (illustrated).
Max Nyffeler, Der Einbruch des Irrationalen und sein Echo Kontinent Scelsi, accompanying booklet to the Salzburg Festival 2007 (Giancinto Scelsi, Klang und Musik, 1953/54), Salzburg 2007, p. 35 (illustrated).
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, Emil Schumacher. Das Erlebnis des Unbekannten, Ostfildern 2012, p. 301 (illustrated).
1912 - 1999
Indemini. 1974.
Mixed media. Acrylic and asphalt on canvas.
295.5 x 189.5 cm (116.3 x 74.6 in). [MH/JS].
• Monumental composition by the leading representative of German Informalism.
• Largest Schumacher painting ever offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• Archaic aesthetics: fascinating combination of Schumacher's gestural expressiveness with a haptic, impasto materiality.
• Published in the important Schumacher monograph by Werner Schmalenbach in 1981.
• Part of an acclaimed private collection in Berlin for over 30 years.
The work is registered in the archive of the Emil Schumacher Foundation, Hagen, under the inv. no. “0/342”.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Georg Nothelfer, Berlin.
Private collection, Berlin (acquired from the above in 1988).
EXHIBITION: Emil Schumacher. Arbeiten 1957 bis 1975, Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Feb. 1 to March 16, 1975 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher, Galerie der Stadt Linz, Oct. 7 to Nov. 6, 1976 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher. Bilder, Gouachen, Zeichnungen , Galerie Veith Trunke, Cologne, Dec. 10, 1976-Feb. 28, 1977 (illustrated).
12 depuis '45. Douze peintres allemands (12 Since '45. Twelve German Painters). Europalia '77 Federal Republic of Germany, Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Oct. 1–Nov. 27, 1977.
Emil Schumacher. Arbeiten 1949–1978, Kunstverein Brunswick, Oct. 6–Nov. 8, 1978, p. 135 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher. Works 1936-1984, Kunsthalle Bremen, October 14-November 25, 1984; Badischer Kunsverein, Karlsruhe, Jan. 12-March 10, 1985, p. 19 (illustrated).
Emil Schumacher. Späte Bilder, Nationalgalerie Berlin, October 21–December 30, 1988; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, May 12–June 25, 1989 (with an illustration on p. 22).
Saarlandmuseum, Saarbrücken (on permanent loan until 2025).
LITERATURE: Werner Schmalenbach, Emil Schumacher, Cologne 1981, p. 141, cat. no. 69 (illustrated on p. 93).
Franz-Joseph van der Grinten, Friedhelm Mennekes, Mythos und Bibel. Auseinandersetzung mit einem Thema der Gegenwartskunst, Stuttgart 1985, p. 113 (illustrated).
Peter Winter, Farbspur und Materialspur, in: Weltkunst Zeitschrift für Kunst und Antiquitäten, vol. 55, no. 5, March 1, 1985, Munich 1985, p. 546 (illustrated).
Georg-W. Költzsch, Georg Nothelfer, Deutsches INFORMEL, Berlin 1986, p. 233 (illustrated).
Laszlo Beke, Dieter Honisch, Schumacher. Catalog accompanying the exhibition at the Kunsthalle Budapest 1989 (illustrated).
Michael Kant, Christoph Zuschlag, Emil Schumacher im Gespräch. “Der Erde näher als den Sternen,” Stuttgart 1992, p. 53 (illustrated).
Jürgen Wißmann, Emil Schumacher. Documenta III - Formlos und doch Form, Cologne 1992, p. 44 (illustrated).
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, Meisterwerke des 20. Jahrhunderts, Saarland Museum Saarbrücken. Die Sammlung des Saarland Museums Saarbrücken, Ostfildern-Ruit 1999, p. 186 (illustrated on p. 187).
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, Saarland Museum Saarbrücken - Moderne Galerie. Die Sammlung des Saarland-Museums Saarbrücken, Munich 1999, p. 101 (illustrated).
Max Nyffeler, Der Einbruch des Irrationalen und sein Echo Kontinent Scelsi, accompanying booklet to the Salzburg Festival 2007 (Giancinto Scelsi, Klang und Musik, 1953/54), Salzburg 2007, p. 35 (illustrated).
Ernst-Gerhard Güse, Emil Schumacher. Das Erlebnis des Unbekannten, Ostfildern 2012, p. 301 (illustrated).
The painting “Indemini” from 1974 is a characteristic work from Emil Schumacher’s late creative period, in which his expressive formal language was combined with an increasingly archaic materiality. Schumacher is one of the central figures of German Informalism. Starting in the 1950s, he developed a gestural style of painting that deliberately abandoned representational depiction and rational composition. Instead, he placed the painting process itself—as an emotional, physical act—at the center of his artistic expression.
Indemini condenses the typical elements of his style: a dense, relief-like surface, impasto paint application, traces of scratches, cracks, and overlays. He combines this with asphalt, a material that appeals to him because of its deep black color and structure. Although Schumacher had experimented with asphalt before, he adopted a much more radical approach in this work. In 1974, he smashed chunks of asphalt, then softened and blended them into the canvas, making it appear less like a pure image carrier and more like a painterly event space where the act of painting itself, with all its physical power and spontaneity, becomes visible. The choice of colors oscillates between earthy tones and contrasting color accents ( in this case, intense black), which lends the work an elemental, almost landscape-like appearance. The title refers to the mountain village of Indemini in Ticino, which Schumacher has visited several times. However, this is not a topographical representation, but rather an emotional cipher that translates memories, experiences of nature, and subjective experiences into an abstract pictorial structure.
The work is a prime example from Schumacher's late creative period, characterized by an increasing focus on the painting's materiality, resulting in a surface with an almost sculptural quality. This painted space is permeated by breaks and compressions that allow the temporality of the artistic process to remain tangible. In this sense, “Indemini” embodies the idea of the “archaic image”—a work that aims for a universal, primal visual language beyond iconographic legibility.
Works such as “Indemini” invite the viewer not to decipher a story, but to immerse themselves in a visual, emotional experience. [MH]
Indemini condenses the typical elements of his style: a dense, relief-like surface, impasto paint application, traces of scratches, cracks, and overlays. He combines this with asphalt, a material that appeals to him because of its deep black color and structure. Although Schumacher had experimented with asphalt before, he adopted a much more radical approach in this work. In 1974, he smashed chunks of asphalt, then softened and blended them into the canvas, making it appear less like a pure image carrier and more like a painterly event space where the act of painting itself, with all its physical power and spontaneity, becomes visible. The choice of colors oscillates between earthy tones and contrasting color accents ( in this case, intense black), which lends the work an elemental, almost landscape-like appearance. The title refers to the mountain village of Indemini in Ticino, which Schumacher has visited several times. However, this is not a topographical representation, but rather an emotional cipher that translates memories, experiences of nature, and subjective experiences into an abstract pictorial structure.
The work is a prime example from Schumacher's late creative period, characterized by an increasing focus on the painting's materiality, resulting in a surface with an almost sculptural quality. This painted space is permeated by breaks and compressions that allow the temporality of the artistic process to remain tangible. In this sense, “Indemini” embodies the idea of the “archaic image”—a work that aims for a universal, primal visual language beyond iconographic legibility.
Works such as “Indemini” invite the viewer not to decipher a story, but to immerse themselves in a visual, emotional experience. [MH]
8
Emil Schumacher
Indemini, 1974.
Mixed media. Acrylic and asphalt on canvas
Estimate:
€ 150,000 / $ 174,000 Sold:
€ 167,700 / $ 194,532 (incl. surcharge)
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