Georg Karl Pfahler

(German, 1926–2002)

Georg Karl Pfahler was a leading German painter known for his Hard-Edge abstractions. The artist dedicated his entire career to the investigation of the relationship between color, shape, and space, and was considered at the forefront of the Color Field movement. “In Pfahler's painting the color has both a displacing and a constitutive function, which bewilders and stimulates the observer to critical reflection,” Peter Beye once wrote of his work. Born in 1926, Pfahler studied at the Kunstakademie Stuttgart under Willi Baumeister, graduating in 1954. Initially working as a sculptor, it was Baumeister who encouraged Pfahler to focus on painting. Influenced by the tradition of European Art Informel, he quickly began to adopt an innovative abstract geometric painting style by the early 1960s. Pfahler continued to reduce his style even further to exclusively focus on the dynamic between shapes, and to examine the deeper relationships between space and color. By the mid 1960s, Pfahler had exhibited alongside artists such as Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, and Kenneth Noland in shows such as “Signale” at the Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland. In 1966, Pfahler had his first show in the United States at Fischbach Gallery, curated by Barnett Newman. Pfahler went on to represent Germany alongside Gunther Uecker, Heinz Mack, and Kaspar Thomas Lenk at the Venice Biennale in 1970. In the decades that followed, Pfahler continued to experiment with the constraints and boundaries of painting. He died on January 6, 2002 in Emetzheim, Germany. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, and the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, among others.

Georg Karl Pfahler News

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Georg Karl Pfahler Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Georg Karl Pfahler (698 results)
4 Hefte in Umschlagmappe, 1970

Georg Karl Pfahler

4 Hefte in Umschlagmappe, 1970

Sale Date: March 16, 2024

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1962

Georg Karl Pfahler

Untitled, 1962

Sale Date: April 20, 2024

Auction Closed

Espan Nr 69/III, 1990–1993

Georg Karl Pfahler

Espan Nr 69/III, 1990–1993

Sale Date: March 10, 2024

Auction Closed

Farbraum-Relief, 1966

Georg Karl Pfahler

Farbraum-Relief, 1966

Sale Date: March 13, 2024

Auction Closed

Little Three Tex, 1963–1966

Georg Karl Pfahler

Little Three Tex, 1963–1966

Sale Date: March 13, 2024

Auction Closed

Doppelt zwei, 1966

Georg Karl Pfahler

Doppelt zwei, 1966

Sale Date: March 13, 2024

Auction Closed

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Two Plates, from Ost-West Transit (2 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Two Plates, from Ost-West Transit (2 works), 1971

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Two Plates, from Ost-West Transit (2 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Two Plates, from Ost-West Transit (2 works), 1971

Sale Date: February 22, 2024

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1959

Georg Karl Pfahler

Untitled, 1959

Sale Date: February 7, 2024

Auction Closed

Three Plates, from Ost-West Transit (3 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Three Plates, from Ost-West Transit (3 works), 1971

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled

Georg Karl Pfahler

Untitled

Sale Date: December 6, 2023

Auction Closed

Espan Nr 52, 1981

Georg Karl Pfahler

Espan Nr 52, 1981

Sale Date: November 22, 2023

Auction Closed

Metro/RRR/D, 1979

Georg Karl Pfahler

Metro/RRR/D, 1979

Sale Date: December 2, 2023

Auction Closed

TEXMETRO RRR/2, 1966–1967

Georg Karl Pfahler

TEXMETRO RRR/2, 1966–1967

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

DA-BRG/II, 1967–1968

Georg Karl Pfahler

DA-BRG/II, 1967–1968

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

BILDER FÜR BERGISCHGLADBACH (ENTWÜRFE), 1986

Georg Karl Pfahler

BILDER FÜR BERGISCHGLADBACH (ENTWÜRFE), 1986

Sale Date: September 23, 2023

Auction Closed

OHNE TITEL, 1960

Georg Karl Pfahler

OHNE TITEL, 1960

Sale Date: September 23, 2023

Auction Closed

OHNE TITEL, 1985

Georg Karl Pfahler

OHNE TITEL, 1985

Sale Date: September 23, 2023

Auction Closed

OHNE TITEL, 1962

Georg Karl Pfahler

OHNE TITEL, 1962

Sale Date: September 23, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1962

Georg Karl Pfahler

Untitled, 1962

Sale Date: August 27, 2023

Auction Closed

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Georg Karl Pfahler

Four Plates, from Ost-West Transit (4 works), 1971

Sale Date: August 14, 2023

Auction Closed

English (US)

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