About the Work
Emil Schumacher applies layer upon layer of paint. Powerfully and spontaneously he applies black, bursting strokes until a relief-like, roughened surface is formed, whose materiality is concentrated in the middle. The artist scratches some parts free again, until the canvas becomes visible. In doing so he not only points at the qualities of the paint, but also to the texture of the picture carrier.
His painting thus contains within itself the deconstruction of the illusion it encompasses. Influenced by the Informel artists Jean Dubuffet, Jean Fautrier and Wols in Paris, Schumacher abandoned representationalism in the 1950s and created a dynamic pictorial language. 'Untitled' demonstrates his resolute and innovative adoption of French Informel painting, making him one of its most important German representatives. Blood-red and yellowish blotches appear apparently randomly out of the amorphous, earthy background, while black lines vaguely recall a torso. We can see in 'Untitled' the damaged world after the war or combine the expressive lines to form abstract forms and figures - but ultimately, Schumacher's painting defies any distinct attributions of meaning.
