Günther Förg was a German abstract artist who produced paintings, sculpture, and photographs that explored a lifelong fascination with Modernism. From his early monochromatic pieces to his images of significant architecture, Förg engaged with the formalism of 20th-century avant-garde movements. “I like very much the qualities of lead—the surface, the heaviness. Some of the paintings were completely painted, and you only experience the lead at the edges; this gives the painting a very heavy feeling—it gives the color a different density and weight,” he said of his Lead Paintings. Born on December 5, 1952 in Füssen, Germany, he studied with Art Informel member Karl Fred Dahmen at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1973–1979. His early style was reminiscent of Cy Twombly and Ellsworth Kelly, while his photography implied a painterly hand with its grainy focus and unique perspectives. In 1992, he was represented at the documenta 9, and in 1996, he won the prestigious Wolfgang Hahn Prize, awarded annually by the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Förg died at 61st birthday on December 5, 2013 in Freiburg, Germany. Today, his works can be seen in collections of the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.