Nucleus, 1966

In 1965-66 Ernst van Leyden made a final and long journey around the world, of which long stays in the Middle and Far East made the most impression on him. After the earlier phases of whispering abstraction (1956-1959) and torn abstraction (collages, 1960-1964), the non-figurative period ended with meditative abstraction (1966-1968). Typical of the design language of this extensive ensemble of paintings and lithographs are the use of geometric shapes such as circle, triangle and square, the layering (transparency), the integration of words in the composition, the use of a palette with bright colors and the experimentation with various unorthodox printing techniques.