In 1953, the year “Mit Spirale auf Gelb” (With Spiral on Yellow) was created, a group exhibition entitled “Younger European Painters: A Selection” opened at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. James Johnson Sweeney, then director of the museum, wrote in the accompanying catalog that his selection was less about the actual age of the artists and more about the fact that all these European painters shared an interest in discovery and adventure. In addition, they all stood together for a “variety and vitality” within Europe, “asserting themselves in a way they have not for the past thirty years” (cf. Guggenheim Museum online: www.guggenheim.org/publication). Alongside artists such as Karel Appel, Alberto Burri, and Pierre Soulages, Willi Baumeister—already 64 years old at the time—was also represented in the exhibition. His participation exemplifies the vital character his work had developed during this period. His participation in the 26th Venice Biennale (1952) and documenta I in Kassel (1955) also attest to the great international recognition of his late abstract oeuvre, which continues to fetch the highest prices on the global auction market today.

The creation of the work “Mit Spirale auf Gelb” (With Spiral on Yellow) dates back to this highly successful period of the artist’s career. It is part of the so-called “Safer” series (1952–1955) and is also known by the title “Safer mit Spirale” (Safer with Spiral). Will Grohmann, author of the artist's first catalogue raisonné, wrote about this series of works: “What might Baumeister have been thinking when he created ‘Safer’? Safer means ‘victor’ in Arabic. Was this the case, or was it a coincidence of idea and reality?” (Will Grohmann 1963, p. 131). In the present work, the center is dominated by a black form that stands in stark contrast to the mustard-yellow background, which creates a strong haptic effect thanks to the addition of sand. Symbols and shapes are carved into this layer of paint, reminiscent of archaic signs or cave paintings, and seem to establish a connection to the title. For Will Grohmann, they appear like “the toys of a giant [...], like little figurines dancing around the black rock” (Will Grohmann 1963, p. 134). In Baumeister's late works, the color black plays a crucial role, representing a kind of zero point and the absence of color. With “Mit Spirale auf Gelb”, the largest work in the entire series, Willi Baumeister created one of the most impressive and at the same time most lively works in the “Safer” series, which, according to Will Grohmann, act as if they knew that they were the “protagonists of the final act in Willi Baumeister’s play”. (Will Grohmann 1963, p. 131). Baumeister died in 1955. [AR]