Anja Decker (1908–1995), Abstract Composition On Paper, German Art Informel, Circa 1950–1965

Anja Decker (1908–1995), Abstract Composition on Paper, German Art Informel, circa 1950–1965

Tempera, ink and gouache on paper
German School, circa 1950–1965
Sheet size: 29.6 x 21 cm (11.65 x 8.27 in)
Framed size: 63 x 53 cm (24.8 x 20.9 in)
Modern wooden frame

A highly gestural abstract composition built from broad black brushstrokes, translucent pink washes and dynamic ink splashes that animate the entire surface of the paper. Beneath the abstraction, organic and almost anthropomorphic forms emerge, suggesting fleeting figures or presences created through the movement of the brush.

Anja Decker belonged to the generation of artists who contributed to the development of postwar German abstraction. A student of Olaf Gulbransson (1873–1958) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, she gradually developed a personal visual language in which gesture, material and rhythmic execution play a central role. During the 1950s and 1960s, her work evolved within the creative environment that gave rise to European Art Informel, sharing common roots with the legacy of the COBRA movement, the experiments of the SPUR group and other avant-garde tendencies that profoundly renewed German and European art after the Second World War.

This work was selected by the Kunsthalle Emden for the exhibition “Bilder wie Energiemaschinen. Otto van de Loo zum Hundertsten”, held from February 10 to May 12, 2024, marking the centenary of Otto van de Loo, the influential gallerist, collector and publisher who played a major role in promoting postwar European avant-garde art. Although the work was ultimately not displayed due to the large number of pieces included in the project, it formed part of the group of works studied and selected by the museum.

Numerous works by Anja Decker were exhibited in the show, reflecting the renewed institutional interest in her oeuvre and in her contribution to the history of postwar German abstraction.

The work is preserved on its original presentation board, bearing handwritten inscriptions and inventory numbers on the reverse. It is now presented under a passe-partout and in a modern wooden frame.