Relational Painting, Tondo #49 — Fine Art

Relational Painting, Tondo #49 - 1952 turns a round surface into a grid of bands and bars. The picture shows rectangles placed across a circle with room between them. Fritz Glarner built this kind of systematic painting with measured spacing and flat colour planes.

The fine art print goes straight onto a nail. A white frame keeps the outer line of the circle clear against the painted bands. A wood finish gives the print a warm edge that does not fight the flat colour planes.

It hangs over a sideboard in a dining room where the round shape breaks up the long run of the board. From the doorway you see the bands first, and the spacing between them. Close to the table you notice the hard line of the frame where it meets the print.