Ernst Wilhelm Nay's painting “Figurale – Eta” from 1949 represents a pivotal work in a transitional phase of his artistic career. It is one of his early “Fugal Paintings,” a group of works created between 1949 and 1951 in which Nay conceived a new artistic vocabulary. In art history, the “Fugal Pictures” mark a decisive turning point in Nay's work toward pure abstraction.
The term “fugal” refers to musical structures and, in particular, to Nay's attempt to transfer principles of music into painting through repetition, variation, and rhythmic staggering.
“Figurale – Eta” marks the beginning of a phase in which Nay increasingly broke away from figuration, although traces of figurative formations remained visible. In contrast to the later “Rhythmic Pictures” or the “Disc Pictures,” works dominated by moving color impulses or flat, circular shapes of color, the “Fugal Pictures” display condensed, linear structures that evoke musical associations such as musical notes, clefs, and bass clefs. The title of the painting refers to this lingering figurativeness with the term “figural,” while the suffix “Eta,” possibly inspired by the Greek letter, marks the transition to abstraction.
The composition is characterized by a complex interplay of color fields and lines, their density and complexity reminiscent of a musical fugue. The painting thus testifies to Nay's intense exploration of the relationship between music and image.
The color scheme is characterized by earthy, subdued tones, combining mainly shades of yellow, brown, and green in varying degrees of saturation. These natural hues create a muted, harmonious atmosphere from which the shapes emerge naturally. Gray, white, and black structure the composition and set strong contrasts. The minimalist yet nuanced palette supports the painting's restrained expressiveness and amplifies its musical and abstract effects. [MH]