Oracle, 1956

As an individual, Otto Greis combines a strong regional connection with the Rhine-Main area and a close relationship with France in equal measure. Born in Frankfurt am Main and dying in Ockenheim am Rhein, he was represented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Hesse; he also lived near Paris from 1957 to 1984 and used this period to rediscover himself and his painting.

The important position of this artist in the network of non-representational painting in Germany after World War 2 is reflected inter alia in his involvement in the »Couleur vivante – Living Colour« exhibition, which took place at the Museum Wiesbaden in 1957 and presented works of German and French painters of the Informel movement for the first time.

After Otto Greis and his paintings became associated with the Informel movement in the 1950s and they were exhibited together with works by KO Götz, Heinz Kreutz and Bernard Schultze at the Quadriga exhibition at the Zimmergalerie Franck in Frankfurt in December 1952, his painting underwent a change in subsequent years. From 1955, his bright and non-representational play of colours darken and turn into inherently interconnected constructs. With his Tuareg series, which derives from his Oracle work, Greis rediscovered his path to figuration. The interwoven, dark green to black lines produce a gloomy nocturnal atmosphere, which is penetrated by points of light. Oracle constitutes an impressive example of a decisive stage in the artist’s œuvre. With Otto Greis, an important post-war artist returns to Wiesbaden in the Reinhard Ernst Collection.