Picture "Two Women (Yellow Green)" (1946) (Unique piece)

The present work, created in 1946, is part of the cycle of works known as the "Hecate Pictures", which were created between 1945 and 1948. The name is derived from one of the mythical titles that Nay used during this period: "Daughter of Hecate". This phase of his work marks the transition from Nay's never-truly objective pictures to his non-objective pictures. The turning away from the object by post-war artists summarised in stylistic terms such as Informel, Non-Objective or Concrete Art, had already taken place in other countries such as France and the USA. Due to the art dictatorship of the Third Reich, these movements could only develop in Germany in secret and to a very limited extent.

Gouache and pencil on paper, 1946, signed and dated. Catalogue raisonné Claesges CR 46-045. Motif size/sheet size 24.2 x 31.8 cm. Size in frame 51 x 58 cm as shown.

A one-of-a-kind or unique piece is a work of art that has been personally created by the artist. It exists only once due to the type of production (oil painting, watercolours, drawing, etc.).

In addition to the classic unique pieces, there exist the so-called "serial unique pieces". They present a series of works with the same colour, motif and technique, manually prepared by the same artist. The serial unique pieces are rooted in "serial art", a type of modern art, that aims to create an aesthetic effect through series, repetitions and variations of the same objects or themes or a system of constant and variable elements or principles.

In the history of arts, the starting point of this trend was the work "Les Meules" (1890/1891) by Claude Monet, in which for the first time a series was created that went beyond a mere group of works. The other artists, who addressed to the serial art, include Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian and above all Gerhard Richter.

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