Diagonale Struktur II. 1974.
Mixed media. Nails and pencil on canvas, on wood.
Presumably Honisch 887. Verso signed, dated, titled and inscribed as well as with an arrow indicating the direction. 40 x 40 x 8.5 cm (15.7 x 15.7 x 3.3 in).

PROVENANCE: Erker Galerie, St. Gallen (verso with the stamp).
Private collection USA (inherited).

"Diagonale Struktur II" counts among Uecker's most epochal nail pictures. However, different from the swirling "Feldern", the artist sought the absolute clarity of a linear arrangement: Narrow diagonal pencil lines, here and there crossed by lines in a counter diagonal, structure the canvas on the wood. Parallel rows of nails follow the given pattern, resembling the battle formation of ancient armies, seem to move towards the center from upper left and lower right. But the lines do not end up in the chaos of a battle, instead they interlock in a most harmonious manner. At first sight the geometry of "Diagonale Struktur II"seems very strict, but soon an inner life and a glistening dynamic is revealed: The nails minimally lean to the one and the other direction, adding a lively structure to the linear rigor.