A Study in Contrasts: Merging Two Artists at TEW Galleries

OTTO NEUMANN (1895-1975) was born in Heidelberg, Germany, the son of a professor of Romance Languages at the University of Heidelberg, “one of the great intellectual centers of Europe,” notes scholar Dr. David Sokol. Growing up, Neumann benefited from this academic and cultural environment. He married his life’s companion, Hilde Rothschild, in 1929, and two world wars would significantly impact both their lives and his work.

The works on exhibition illustrate Neumann’s preoccupations with the human figure; sculptural abstract shapes; and rare, figurative interpretations of men on horses primarily from the 1950’s onward. One standout piece from an earlier period is a 1934 linocut print depicting warrior-like male figures.

Significant of his later work is Neumann’s adaptation of the monotype print as the major vehicle for his artistic expression. Between 1950 and 1972, he produced hundreds of monotypes with constant refinement and adjustment. The abstracted figures have a sense of monumental proportion counterpoised by the flowing and lyrical quality of the continuous line technique he employed in earlier works. In these pieces Neumann allowed shape, tone, and line to attain full importance. 

During the mid-1960s Neumann made a dramatic shift from the recognizable into abstraction.  The restrained and elegant monotypes from this period focused on a mix of angular and ovoid shapes. They are strong and extroverted works, building on the exuberant forms of equestrian-figurative pieces which also formed a dynamic part of his body of prints. The abstracts embraced a formal play of geometry and organic shapes, shifting away from the quieter, more classical approach of the previous period.  In all of Neumann’s art, color is primarily earthy or strictly monochromatic, with subtle tonal shifts afforded by his technique. Occasionally, he would layer different color ink to create duotone prints and occasionally, he would create monochrome prints by layering one single ink repeatedly. These shifting densities provide a nuanced range and refined aesthetic. The works are, even today, extraordinarily contemporary. Neumann’s works on paper are included in notable museum collections, such as the High Museum of Atlanta, Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art- New York, and multiple European institutions.

HAIDEE BECKER was born in 1950 in Los Angeles. Her family moved to Rome when she was two years old, settling in a renaissance palace. In 1969, the family moved to London where her father took on one of the iconic artist-studio houses at Glebe Place in Chelsea. After her father’s death, it became Haidee’s studio where she remained until 2012.

“When I was a little girl growing up in Rome, I had a dream. In that dream I saw a beam of light illuminating specks of dust.  It lasted a split second, and I have been trying to catch that light ever since. That moment of illumination, that moment when that which I am looking at comes to life.”   

Haidee Becker’s current exhibition, her first in the United States in several years, continues her lifelong fascination with intimate still life paintings. Also included in the show is a figurative work; a large and serene painting of a figure asleep, head down on a table while underneath, her dog lies dreaming. The work is emotionally profound with its fine technique, rich, dark tonalities and restricted palette.

Becker’s floral paintings are not vibrant and overblown representations of flowers in their prime, they are rather a reflection on the fragility of life, hovering at the edge of materiality and ethereality. ‘The paintings represent a moment in time,’ explains Haidee. ‘My work has always been about death really – but also about defeating it in that moment through paint.’

As with all Becker’s works, the subjects are edited down to their essence; nothing is extraneous, loud, frivolous or overstated, instead, what is presented is a serene and refined encapsulation of a moment; exquisite beauty frozen in time. 

Becker has exhibited in many distinguished galleries, group exhibitions and fairs throughout America and Europe, and her work has been shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Becker and Neumann are similar in their minimal approach to figures and forms, highlighting the subject matter at hand. A precise but poetic use of line, and an instinctive yet controlled grasp of color, unites the work. The resulting paintings and prints are brilliant in their spareness, and through studied underplay, they convey the deep emotion of human experience.

TEW Galleries, Inc. 
425 Peachtree Hills Ave, NE, #24, Atlanta, GA 30305. 
Tel. 404 869-0511
www.tewgalleries.com