Erich Buchholz - Two circles with a square, original woodcut 1922

Erich Buchholz: Two Circles with Square / Homage to Carl Laszlo. Original woodcut from 1922, printed for the anniversary catalog "50 Years of Galerie Nierendorf", Berlin 1970, published in a limited edition, printed from the original block. Size 17.5 x 11.3 cm, paper 21.4 x 15.5 cm. Typographically titled on the reverse and certified as "Original woodcut, 1922 - 1970", in excellent condition.


The woodcut by Berlin artist Erich Buchholz (1891–1972) is considered a key work of abstract art in Germany. In its radical reduction, the image completely dispenses with representational elements. Instead, it focuses entirely on the interplay of form, surface, and a stark black-and-white contrast. Through its asymmetrical composition, the work breaks down the classical separation of foreground and background by placing two circles in a dynamic interplay. The mathematical rigor of these geometric forms is organically enlivened by the irregular edges of the woodcut. Buchholz thus created an art that transcends all spatial illusion on the two-dimensional surface and refers only to the relationship between its own pictorial elements. With this visionary approach, he anticipated essential principles of later Op Art and Minimalism as early as the 1920s.