Abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort with linear forms in blue, pink, orange, yellow and black.

Opposition

Following the Spoutnik works of the late 1950s, Hans Zandvoort moved increasingly toward abstraction. He called this body of work Opposition.

In 1966, his work was described in terms of an opposition between “constructed and considered” forms and “chaotic and instinctive” forms in an attempt to integrate abstraction and figuration.

In the years following Spoutnik, recognizable structures increasingly gave way to overlapping forms, lines and fields of color. By 1966, Zandvoort’s work was described in terms of “constructed and considered” forms set against “chaotic and instinctive” forms, in an attempt to integrate abstraction and figuration.

Between structure and instinct

Abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort

Hans Zandvoort
1961
Acrylic on canvas
23 × 36 cm

Abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort, dated 1962

Hans Zandvoort
1962
Acrylic on canvas
51 × 36 cm

Opposition-period abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort with dark linear forms over layered red, brown and green passages.

Hans Zandvoort
Acrylic on canvas
36 × 52 cm

Opposition-period abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort with geometric areas of red, yellow, blue and gray crossed by black linear forms.

Hans Zandvoort
Acrylic on canvas
Approx. 36 × 52 cm

Opposition-period abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort with curved black lines and geometric forms in red, yellow and blue.

Hans Zandvoort
Acrylic on canvas
Approx. 36 × 52 cm

Opposition-period abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort with sweeping black and red lines over layered gray, yellow and red forms.

Hans Zandvoort
Acrylic on canvas
52 × 36 cm

Opposition-period abstract painting by Hans Zandvoort with red and yellow geometric forms above a blue-gray field crossed by fine linear markings.

Hans Zandvoort
Acrylic on canvas
Approx. 52 × 33 cm

Over the following decades, Zandvoort continued to explore the relationship between gestural and constructed form. In his later work, that investigation developed into what he described as a “neo-anamorphic” approach to painting.

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