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As a painting in space, the ‘Column’ is a unique piece in Leverkühne’s oeuvre. The work was created in 1991 for the pavilion of what was then the Annelie Brusten Gallery in Wuppertal. It was regarded as an experimental forum for the professors and their master’s students at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Silke Leverkühne studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1971 to 1978 and completed her studies in 1978 as a master student under Alfonso Hüppi.
In response to the gallery’s octagonal pavilion, Leverkühne’s ‘Column’ was given an octagonal floor plan. It has neither a base nor a capital. The focus does not seem to be on architectural recognisability, but rather on capturing phenomena of visual perception in the interplay of light, shadow and material.
The work belongs to the context of the ‘striped paintings’ she began creating in 1990. In her paintings, Leverkühne incorporates the characteristic black-and-white stone layering of Italian church buildings such as Orvieto Cathedral or Siena Cathedral. The changing direction of the stripes and the shadows suggested in shades of violet, blue and grey create an optical illusion that makes the surface appear as a relief.
Works by Silke Leverkühne were exhibited on several occasions at the Von der Heydt Museum between 1987 and 1997. The ‘Column’ entered the museum’s collection in 2025 as a donation to the Kunst- und Museumsverein.