Artwork
Abstract Painting. Red
Abstract Painting. Red is a paint painting by the Abstract Expressionist artist Klaus-Dieter (Herstellung) Schumacher. It dates from 2004 and is held in the collection of the Deutsche Fotothek. The work titled Abstract Painting.
About this work
Reinhardt wanted viewers to notice small shifts in color and shape that only appear after looking for a while.
You see a large red painting. The whole canvas is filled with deep, flat red, with only faint hints of a grid hidden under the surface.
This work is a copy made by Klaus-Dieter Schumacher. It recreates a painting by American artist Ad Reinhardt, who painted simple red squares late in his career. Reinhardt wanted viewers to notice small shifts in color and shape that only appear after looking for a while. Schumacher’s version was shown in Dresden in 2004 as part of an exhibit on modern American art.
Look up the artist: Schumacher, Klaus-Dieter (Herstellung) (Fotograf).
Overview
The work titled Abstract Painting. Red is an acrylic on canvas measuring 275 by 120 centimeters. It presents a uniformly saturated red field that occupies the entire surface, with only barely perceptible traces of a grid implied beneath the pigment.
The piece was displayed at the Arts House in Dresden-Neustadt during the International Exhibition of Modern Art and the Museum of American Art from early September to late November 2004.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas consists of a single, deep red plane that conceals subtle variations in hue and a faint underlying grid. These minimal differences are intended to engage the viewer’s perception, encouraging a prolonged look to detect the slight shifts in color and form that the artist embedded within the ostensibly uniform surface.
Technique & Style
Executed in acrylic, the painting employs a flat application of pigment that eliminates texture, allowing the color itself to dominate. The concealed grid is rendered through barely discernible tonal changes, a method that aligns with the late-career approach of the original creator, who favored reductive geometry and monochrome fields to explore visual perception.
History & Provenance
The piece is a reproduction made by German artist Klaus‑Dieter Schumacher, who specializes in manufacturing and photographic documentation. Schumacher’s copy faithfully replicates a work originally produced by American painter Ad Reinhardt, known for his minimalist red squares. The reproduced canvas entered the Dresden exhibition as part of a broader presentation of modern American art.
Context
Ad Reinhardt’s late-period paintings reduced visual language to monochrome squares, seeking to reveal the viewer’s sensitivity to minute chromatic and spatial fluctuations. Schumacher’s replication situates this aesthetic within a European museum setting, offering audiences outside the United States direct exposure to Reinhardt’s conceptual concerns during the early 2000s.
Artist & collection
Artist
Klaus-Dieter (Herstellung) Schumacher
Klaus-Dieter Schumacher painted flat, solid-color canvases in the 1960s and 70s. This bundle includes his Abstract Painting. Red, a single bold red field with no brushstrokes or shapes. It’s part of a quiet tradition…
