Commissioned for the Citizens’ Hall of the newly built City Hall, the allegorical triptych-style composition *Man in the Society* was created in 1960. In the central panel, a couple moves towards one another in an Arcadian idyll, surrounded by nature, music and the joy of life. The themes of work and industry are symbolically depicted in the left-hand panel, whilst family and the harvest are represented in the right-hand panel. The centre, staged like a theatre set, is flanked by the workshop and the private sphere, by action and tranquillity. To convey the concept of the individual, society and politics in a symbolically effective manner, Becker followed the classical division of roles between the sexes and designed a traditional model of society.
The monumental painting achieves a lively, expressive quality through its finely fragmented composition and intensely luminous colour contrasts. Figures and individual motifs are woven into a tapestry-like, densely patterned design that lends the mural a decorative effect. In keeping with the function of the space, the viewer is met with a festive and solemn atmosphere. The deliberate stylisation of the subject reflects Becker’s quest for a universally valid, timeless and representative visual message.
The bold formal language combines stylistic elements of classical modernism with influences from the informal painting movement of the 1950s and 1960s, seeking a connection between tradition and the avant-garde, the past and the present. Within the artist’s overall body of work, the Singen mural may be regarded as an outstanding masterpiece and, at the same time, as a symbol of his mindset and artistic philosophy.
The preliminary study for the work is held in the collection of the Kunstmuseum Singen.
Text and editing: Kunstmuseum Singen
