Initially, during the 1950s, the paintings of Stephan von Huene reshaped influences he encountered during his studies (i. e. Cézanne, Cubism, Surrealism). During the 1960s, he was oriented toward the art of his own time, in particular Abstract Expressionism, which accounted for the renown of North American painting during this period. But soon, von Huene began to pursue his own, experimental path, which took him beyond pure painting. Using unconventional production techniques, as in the Smoke Pictures, he extended the picture surface by means of objects in space, all the way to collages, whose scenarios often involve characteristic comic effects. Found in the transition toward the spatially expansive assemblages are the first indications of the later installation works.
