100 years of the Cranach press

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Under the title 100 Years of the Cranach Press. Book art from Weimar was shown from March 28, 2013 to August 10, 2014 in the Renaissance hall of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, an exhibition that was dedicated to an important bibliophile press of the 20th century. The exhibition not only dealt with the production of the Cranach press itself, but also looked at its prehistory, its role models and its afterlife. Comparative pieces from other presses and historical photographs were also presented. The occasion for the exhibition was the establishment of the facility by Count Harry Kessler in 1913.

Special exhibits

The best-known exhibits of the exhibition included the editions of Virgil's Eclogen with woodcuts by Aristide Maillol (published 1926), Shakespeare's Hamlet in the translation by Gerhart Hauptmann with woodcuts by Edward Gordon Craig (published 1929) and the prints of Solomon's Song of Solomon with wood engravings by Eric Gill from 1931. The exhibition put a special focus on the contemporary documentary photos by Ursula Braunes, which were shown for the first time on this scale and which illustrate the entire production process of the Hamlet edition.

various

Thematically, the exhibition was closely linked to the exhibition Passion, Function and Beauty. Henry van de Velde and his contribution to European modernism , insofar as the founder of the Cranach-Presse , Harry Graf Kessler , was on friendly terms with Henry van de Velde and collaborated trustingly with van de Velde on questions of art in general and book art in particular. In addition, during the First World War, van de Velde directed the press at Kessler's request. Various texts by van de Velde, such as his artistic credo "Amo", were printed on the Cranach press.

Exhibition catalog

An extensive, illustrated exhibition catalog was published in two editions for the exhibition (see literature). In addition to a foreword and an introductory essay, it contains a multi-page chronicle of the press, 58 illustrated catalog descriptions, four examples of brochures from the Cranach press, ten digressions on central individual aspects and a glossary that explains the technical terms used, a bibliography, index of persons and one large-format folding board with the 60 documentation photos shown.

literature

  • 100 years of the Cranach press. Book art from Weimar. Edited by Hans Zimmermann on behalf of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar / Duchess Anna Amalia Library. Editing: Claudia Kleinbub, Johannes Mangei and Frank Sellinat. Meissners, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-87527-121-8 (book trade edition), ISBN 978-3-87527-122-5 (library edition).
  • Mangei, Johannes: Exhibitions in Thuringian libraries - using the example of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library . In: Announcements of the Thuringia Regional Association in the German Library Association 2013, No. 2, pp. 1–3, here pp. 2–3.

Web links