Karl Otto Götz, representative of the German stream of Art Informel, the ~ studied at the Aachen School of Applied Arts from 1931 to 1934. In the 1930s and 1940s he retained a semi-abstract, figurative approach which was not superseded until 1948-1948. In 1949 he became a member of the Cobra group, and in 1952 a co-founder of Quadriga in Frankfurt. That year also marked the appearance of Götz's first abstract expressionist works, composed of rhythmic swaths of paint that, in keeping with the action painter's philosophy, emerged spontaneously from the automatism of the subconscious mind. Götz's dynamic compositions, such as Painting of 9/14/1954 illustrated here, were executed within a matter of seconds. "Rapidity", the artist noted, "was a necessary means for me to reduce the degree of conscious control to a minimum. This rapidity also gave rise to blends of form, passages and textures (streaks and spatters) which I could never have produced using a slower, more controlled process."