In "Fra Firenze (G) No. VIII a" (1987), Georg Karl Pfahler directs the viewer's gaze directly to a centrally arranged red area surrounded by three colour fields in blue, green and black. In contrast to the black rectangle on the right, the green and blue fields - like the red - are rounded on one side, revealing white 'empty' spaces. Pfahler not only combines the colours he chooses for his paintings with the non-colours black and white, but – by combining light and dark, cold and warm, angular and round elements – creates a composition full of contrasts which conveys a special presence and intensity.
Georg Karl Pfahler (1926 - 2002) is one of the most important and earliest representatives of Hard Edge in Europe. The former student of Willi Baumeister was influenced by Informel in the 1950s, but in the 1960s he developed his own distinct visual language in geometric abstraction, in which blocks of colour enter into a dynamic dialogue with organic forms. Throughout his life, form, colour and space remained decisive parameters in Pfahler's art, which he explored in various concepts and techniques.The artist dealt with his topics and questions serially, as in the series "Fra Firenze", to which the present work belongs.
With important exhibition participations, such as the group show "Signale (signals)" at the Kunsthalle Basel in 1965, Pfahler quickly advanced to become an internationally recognised artist. Together with Günther Uecker, Thomas Lenk and Heinz Mack, Pfahler represented the Federal Republic of Germany at the 1970 Venice Biennale; in 1981 he took part in the São Paulo Biennale. Moreover, works by the award-winning artist have been exhibited in renowned institutions, including the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Guggenheim Museum, New York, and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
