Red Chimneys, 1924

The last light of day vaguely illuminates the subdued dark blue roofs and sand-colored facades from which the deep brick-red chimneys stand out like towers of light. Black outlines keep in Gerhart Frankl’s (1901–1965) painting Red Chimneys of 1924 the view over the city within the bounds of representationalism. Without the contouring linework, everything would be dissolving in expressive constructions of color and form. It relates with the roofs, which Frankl articulated even more experimentally in color in Roofs with Chimneys, Mountains in the Background and with his beacon Paul Cézanne (1839–1906).

RR, 2021