Adolph Gottlieb’s Istanbul (1971) is considered one of the key works in his so-called Burst series. From the late 1950s onwards, Gottlieb developed this compositional formula, based on a clear dual structure: a circular form at the top and a gesturally animated field below.
In Istanbul, a deep red, glowing circle floats against a white background above a vortex of white paint, over which splashes of grey partially settle. With this arrangement, Gottlieb reflects his fascination with the principle of opposites — the idea that the universe is defined by polarities that are contradictory yet complementary. In such a configuration, the upper may also represent the lower, and apparent chaos can resolve into a harmonious whole. The result is a dynamic, yet inherently unstable equilibrium.
Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974)
Istanbul, 1971
Currently exhibited: Yes (Gallery: Painting as a Home)
Material: Oil on canvas
Size: 228 x 181,7 cm
Inv-Nr.: B_537
Image rights: VG Bild-Kunst
Keywords:
Acquired: Reinhard Ernst Collection, 2021
Gottlieb aimed to create images that evoke an immediate, overwhelming impact. His works were meant to be grasped in their entirety at first glance, rather than gradually deciphered through a series of smaller discoveries.[1] He consistently rejected literal interpretations of his paintings, advocating instead for abstraction and a powerful emotional connection between non-representational imagery and the viewer.
Noteworthy in this context is his connection to Helen Frankenthaler. Gottlieb supported her early work as early as 1950, significantly shaping her artistic development. In her painting Green Moon (1984), created ten years after Gottlieb’s death, Frankenthaler took up the formal vocabulary of the Burst series. With its floating circular form and gestural fields of colour, the work reads as a quiet homage to her mentor.
You can discover Frankenthaler’s Green Moon in the exhibition Helen Frankenthaler Moves Jenny Brosinski, Ina Gerken, Adrian Schiess. The contemporary artist Ina Gerken has selected it for the final room of the show.
[1] ‘You take it in its totality, instantaneously, and it’s not something that you look at with an eye for detail […] The important thing is the immediate impact.’ Gottlieb in interview with Martin Friedman, august 1962, tape 2A, typescript p. 26, quoted in Adolph Gottlieb: A Retrospective, exh. cat. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice 2011, p. 51.
‘You take it in its totality, instantaneously, and it’s not something that you look at with an eye for detail […] The important thing is the immediate impact.’ Gottlieb in interview with Martin Friedman, august 1962, tape 2A, typescript p. 26, quoted in Adolph Gottlieb: A Retrospective, exh. cat. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice 2011, p. 51.
Currently exhibited: Yes
Material: Oil on canvas
Size: 228 x 181,7 cm
Inv-Nr.: B_537
Keywords: Abstract Expressionism
