Ritzi & Peter Jacobi

EUR 95,000 + VAT

Red Textile Relief, 1979  

Cotton, cotton fibre, goat hair, sisal, naturally and chemically dyed

285 x 385 x 15 cm

About this work

This may act somewhat like a monochrome painting from the viewing distance which its monumental scale encourages, but as the Jacobis have explained ‘Our use of colour is at once restricted and extensive: each apparent colour is made up of innumerable shades and tones further enhanced by the sculptural play of light and shadow on the relief. For us, monochrome pieces are the realisation of the intensification of colour.’

PETER & RITZI JACOBI BIOGRAPHY

Peter and Ritzi Jacobi met as textile and sculpture students respectively at the Art Academy in Bucharest, marrying in 1966. Until they went their own way in the 1980’s, they collaborated on textiles while developing other separate practices. Their relief tapestries make new experimental and sculptural forms inspired by the Romanian traditions of finely woven blankets, flags and wall hangings and medieval religious embroidery. Anni Albers identified a particular tactility in textiles, arising from how what you see is a direct consequence of the material’s make-up: the Jacobis heighten the effect, often adding contrast by integrating paper and adding to the surface texture by weaving in non-traditional elements such as woven boxes, thick cords, and pieces of wood.