Artwork of the month January

Georg Malin, Beerenfrucht, 1980/81

Georg Malin

* 1926 in Mauren


Beerenfrucht, 1980/81


Diabase, ground, polished
63.5 x 51.5 x 51.5 cm
Donated by the Erna Maschke Stiftung, Vaduz


A member of the Landtag (Parliament) and member of the Governement, historian, archaeologist, cofounder and first conservator of the Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlung (national art collection of Liechtenstein), Georg Malin has not only influenced the recent history of the country. As an artist he has also created works that one encounters today in public space, on company grounds, and in several churches in Liechtenstein.

The Beerenfrucht sculpture stands next to the main entrance to Liechtensteinisches Gymnasium in Vaduz, with steps leading up. The massive, greenish-black block of stone is divided by deep horizontal and vertical incisions on each side into sections whose outside surfaces are curved in different ways and offset from each other by edges of varying sharpness and course. On the polished surface of the stone – a heterogeneous structure of partially green-dyed, basalt rock and mineral inclusions – a variegated interplay of light reflections and shades results.

In a number of sculptures in stone or polished bronze, Malin fashioned plant motifs such as blossom, bud or fruit in the 1970s and 1980s. On the one hand, he thus devoted himself to the range of topics concerning the natural processes of formation, development and constant renewal, that he also dealt with in a large cycle of paintings on Creation. On the other hand, he translated the organic motifs into almost crystalline structures created by modifying basic geometric forms. Beerenfrucht, for example, which exhibits nine cuboid facets on each of its four faces, results from an abstract geometricisation of natural forms that concluded with Composition with 9 Cubes from 1983/84. Because it also approximates to the form of the cube as an overall entity, Beerenfrucht can also be seen as pioneering that deeper examination of the visual properties and symbolic content of the cube that would subsequently come to be the focus of Malin's work.


Franziska Hilbe
 

<b>Georg Malin, Beerenfrucht, 1980/81</b>
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein highlights a work from the permanent collection each month throughout the year. Works from the collection of the Hilti Art Foundation are also included in this series on a regular basis.