Gerhard Hoehme broke one of the fundamental laws of painting: namely that the shape of the canvas must determine the design. He wanted to create a transition between the surface of the picture and real space, thereby reversing traditional perspective: the third dimension was no longer to be imaginary but was to become real. The cords and tubes entwined around his canvases and protruding from the image minimise the separation of the realm of the picture from that of the viewer. Even the paint is not to adhere to the surface in the conventional manner: Hoehme scratches it off again and reapplies it in his 'bark pictures', while scraps of painted synthetic scraps fixed around the edges of his pictures extend the effect of the colour out into free space. Gerhard Hoehme's work is typified by these extremely complex techniques which he devised in order to break through the principles of painting. Hoehme's work and methods have never been adequately documented so far. This publication will fulfil the plans of the Gerhard Hoehme Archive for a catalogue raisonné. All of Hoehme's known paintings are documented here - more than 600 in total. The artist: Gerhard Hoehme (Greppin near Dessau 1920-1989 Neuss-Selikum). In 1952 Hoehme becomes a co-founder of 'Tachism' (Informel) in Germany. 1954-1957: the spokesman of the avant-garde movement 'Gruppe 53'. 1960: Villa Massimo, Rome; Professor of Free Painting at the State Academy of Art in Düsseldorf. From 1964 onwards working with pattern sheets. 1965: discovers the 'cord' as a structural pictorial element. 1968-1969: his first damask pictures. From 1968 onwards he produces his 'Mediatoren'.