Wols, born Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze in Berlin, was a German painter and printmaker whose abstract works emerged from wartime displacement and existential uncertainty. Working primarily in oils and watercolor, he developed a gestural, densely layered approach that anticipated Art Informel, building compositions from delicate linear gestures and organic forms that suggest microscopic or cellular structures. Based in Paris after 1945, his brief but influential career spanned only six years before his death. His work bridges Surrealism and pure abstraction, rejecting geometric systems in favor of spontaneous mark-making and material experimentation.
Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 25d ago
