La Flèche (Original Title) 1951

Wols created "La Flèche" using oil on canvas, and it now resides at the Städel Museum. The painting presents a stark visual field dominated by earthy tones and a striking, almost violent composition. A roughly rendered circle takes center stage, bisected by a thick, horizontal stroke that suggests the titular arrow. The texture is raw, the brushwork visceral, evoking a sense of immediacy and primal energy. This piece is a potent example of post-war abstraction, embodying a break from traditional representation. Wols employs a minimalist structure to destabilize conventional artistic language. The arrow, rather than hitting a clear target, pierces an ambiguous form. The simplicity of the forms encourages a semiotic reading; the circle might symbolize wholeness, and the arrow, direction or force. Yet the painting refrains from a fixed meaning, instead offering a space for interpretation. Notice the tension between the aggressive linearity of the arrow and the soft, porous quality of the circular form. This contrast encapsulates the painting’s essence, existing not merely as an aesthetic object, but as a dynamic field of visual and philosophical possibilities.