The Shared Vision of H+H Joos

The name H+H Joos represents a creative union between Hildegard Joos and her husband, Harold Joos. Their collaboration emerged from a life shared between the studios of Vienna and Paris. While Hildegard’s individual path was marked by her transition from figurative expressionism to the rigorous logic of geometric abstraction, her work with Harold allowed for a specific, unified expression. They often signed their joint efforts with this combined name, marking a period where their personal and professional lives became inseparable through the medium of paint.

Their partnership flourished as Hildegard moved away from the colorful, expressive figures of her early training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna toward a more structured language. This evolution led them into the realms of constructivism and monistic painting. In the quiet rhythm of their shared studio, the boundaries between individual styles softened, giving way to a collective exploration of form and space.

Evolution of Form and Geometry

The work produced under the H+H Joos name reflects a deep interest in the underlying structures of visual perception. Their canvases often moved away from the representation of the physical world, focusing instead on the tension between color and geometry. This period of their life was defined by a shift toward abstraction that sought to find order within the composition.

Several key themes emerged during their collaborative years:

• The use of checkerboard and raster patterns to organize the pictorial plane.
• An exploration of balance through geometric arrangement.
• The interaction of primary colors and spatial depth.

In works like Multibalance and Transvibration, there is a sense of movement found within stillness. These pieces do not rely on the depiction of objects, but rather on the way light and color interact across a surface. By the time they produced Allover in the 1990s, the language of their work had become a refined study of how shapes can occupy a space without the need for traditional perspective.

A Legacy of Abstraction

The influence of their collaborative period is felt in the way they approached the canvas as a site for mathematical and visual inquiry. Their presence in the art scene was solidified through their involvement in significant circles, such as the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. This involvement placed their abstract explorations within a broader European context, moving beyond the borders of Austria.

The later works, such as Rot/Blau and ZBR Nr. 3, show a continued commitment to the principles of abstraction. Even as the decades passed, the focus remained on the essential relationship between color and form. Their contribution to the development of geometric abstraction remains a significant chapter in the history of modern painting, marking a time when the act of creation was a shared, disciplined pursuit of visual truth.