Herbert Zangs (1924-2003)
Germany
1954
Mixed media, signed and dated
19 ½” x 19 ½”

Herbert Zangs began his studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1945. During this time he visited a Jackson Pollock exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Düsseldorf, which opened the door to his embrace of abstraction. Between 1952-1959, he created his ‘White Works’ or ‘Whitenings’ for which he is best known. These works use scavenged materials, including cardboard, paper, and fabric, coated in thin layers of white masonry paint. “White sticks to an object like snow to a landscape,” Zangs explained.

This abstract, three dimensional work is from that period. There is a quality of visceral urgency that brings to mind the later Arte Povera movement in Italy.

Zangs work has been shown in exhibitions internationally, including a 1995 retrospective at the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art in Paris.