Painting

By Ole Schwalbe

Denmark, 1959

This painting is a striking example of Ole Schwalbe’s geometric abstraction, dated 1959, a period during which he became a leading figure in Danish concrete art. The composition features a grid of nine squares in a limited palette of black, white, and red: a signature colour scheme for Schwalbe.

Schwalbe (1929–1990) was known for his disciplined use of form and colour to explore rhythm, balance, and spatial tension. Deeply influenced by Constructivism and the Bauhaus, he saw painting as an autonomous visual language, independent from representation.