Riss (Rupture)

Visual Description

A young woman stands in the lower part of the vertical canvas. Her arms are stretched above her head, her wrists wrapped in strips of fabric whose ends hang loosely. Her hands open upward. Her head is tilted back, her gaze directed upward. Freckles cover her cheeks and nose.

The figure is painted almost monochromatically in an intense blue, lightened with white and gray. The ground is pale and slightly textured. In the upper area the surface shows a fine craquelure, a network of cracks in the paint layer. The upper half of the picture remains largely empty.

Artistic Interpretation

“Riss” (Rupture) brings together two opposing movements. The bound wrists speak of constraint; the open hands and upward gaze speak of longing and departure. Whether the bands are loosening or tightening remains open.

The title can refer to the craquelure in the ground, but also to an inner break. The large empty area above the figure becomes the space toward which everything is directed. Viewers experience a moment of transition in which body and will are held in tension.

Art-Historical Context

The restriction to a single blue recalls Picasso’s Blue Period and the significance Yves Klein gave to the color. Hübner, however, uses it not as a sign of melancholy but as a color of clarity. Within the group “Body and Resonance,” “Riss” stands for the expressive power of a single gesture.

Exclusivity

“Riss” is a unique work in acrylic on canvas, framed in white, 100 × 50 cm, painted in July 2026. Fluorescent pigments react to UV light. Under black light the blue changes its effect and opens a second level of perception.

Collector Value

The narrow vertical format and restrained palette make the work versatile, for example on wall sections between windows or in calm rooms. For collectors, it is a clear example of Hübner’s current, pared-down visual language, in which figure and empty space carry equal weight.

More About the Artist

Matthias Hübner (b. 1976) combines high-contrast figuration with intense color and an open, psychologically charged visual language in modern surrealistic realism. People, emotions and different levels of perception are at the center of his work. Since returning to painting in 2020, he has continued to develop his artistic position experimentally.

Early awards at the GDR youth painting competition in 1989 and the European painting competition in 1993, along with international recognition in recent years, mark his artistic development.

Condition Report

Very good condition; no visible defects. A detailed condition report is available on request.