German watercolors, drawings and prints: A midcentury review

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

German watercolors, drawings and prints: A midcentury review is the title of a traveling exhibition that was shown by the federal government in selected cities in the USA in 1956 .

Preparation and scope

The cultural department of the Foreign Office was the initiator of the exhibition . As part of the foreign cultural policy , the tour was of the Federal Republic of Germany financed ( sponsored by the Federal Republic of Germany ) and the American Federation of Arts , under its Director Thomas Messer organized locally.

The exhibition showed 112 works from the period from 1905 to 1955. The year 1905 was chosen as the beginning of the expressionist artist group Die Brücke . In fact, the oldest piece, a preliminary study by Käthe Kollwitz for her etching Woman with Dead Child , was from 1903. The focus was on the works of Expressionism and showed art that had been slandered and persecuted by the National Socialists as Degenerate Art . The exhibition is thus part of a development since 1945, that of the Munich exhibition Der Blaue Reiter. Munich and the art of the 20th century found their first, much acclaimed expression in 1949 and which Julia Voss characterized in the FAZ 2013 as the continuation of politics with the means of art : It was the founding year of the Federal Republic; the previously ostracized modernity rose from now on to statecraft.

The impetus for the project came in the early 1950s from the cultural department of the Federal Foreign Office and from the Karlsruhe museum director and co-founder of the documenta Kurt Martin . The selection was made by Leonie Reygers , the founding director of the Museum am Ostwall . The selection was based on a high standard of work quality and the general rank of the artist. With its focus on works on paper, on watercolors and graphics , the selection created an intimate glimpse that, according to Anton Henze in his preview, will become an experience for the German viewer and a counterpart to the documenta (first held in 1955) let.

The works on display were on loan, most of them from private collections . The lenders were

Implementation and reception

The exhibition started on May 28, 1956 in New York , where it was shown in the Grace Borgenicht Gallery on 57th Street and the Weyhe Gallery on Lexington Avenue . In October she was at the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts) . In San Francisco it was exhibited at the MH de Young Memorial Museum in. The critic of the Harvard newspaper The Harvard Crimson , Lowell J. Rubin, welcomed the exhibition as a good insight into the checkered ( fluorescent ) history of German art in the 20th century. He pointed out that, in his opinion, there was a strong difference in quality between the early works and the following generation: A more blatant contrast could hardly be conceived than that between German art between 1905–1935 and the later period from 1935–1955. There are examples of the photographic realism that was the order of the day during the Nazi regime so that this era appears as a large blank. But its dryness in the way of artistic ideas is shown by what came after. Contemporary German art seems to be well behind literature in recovering from the war. There is almost no evidence of the originality that influenced the whole of western art in the early part of the century. What we see are derivative paintings.

Catalog

The catalog was entitled German watercolors, drawings and prints [1905-1955]. A midcentury review, with loans from German museums and galleries and from the collection Dr. H. Gurlitt . In her introduction to the catalog, Leonie Reygers gives short introductions to the Brücke , the Blauer Reiter and the Bauhaus painters . The aim of the exhibition is to introduce American art lovers to German art of our century, and we hope to make new friends for it in the USA. At least sales were not excluded.

The catalog was illustrated with 36 good quality black-and-white illustrations for the time. It was produced in the Busche print shop in Dortmund. The catalog is arranged alphabetically by artist. Each catalog entry names the title and year of the work of art, technology and dimensions, details of whether or not signed, and the lender. No information about the provenance beyond the lender at the time is given.

List of loans

number Artist title year Dimensions material Lender Remarks Illustration
1 Ernst Barlach The Seventh Day 1920,1931 44 x 53.8 cm Charcoal drawing Bremen, Ernst Barlach Society Study for the last plate of the woodcut series The Changes of God
2 Ernst Barlach The Forsaken Ones 1930 (approx.) 31 × 43 cm lithograph Bremen, Ernst Barlach Society
BarlachForsaken.jpg
3 Ernst Barlach Daybreak 1932 31.5 × 43 cm lithograph Bremen, Ernst Barlach Society to Faust II, 1
4th Willi Baumeister Preliminary Study for 'Eidos' 1936 49.7 x 40.7 cm Pencil drawing Munich, Kliehm Art Cabinet
5 Willi Baumeister Abstract composition 1942 39 × 58.7 cm Color drawing ( color drawing ) Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum
6th Willi Baumeister Cosmic gesture 1952 54.5 × 65 cm screen printing Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
7th Willi Baumeister Fist motif 1953 44.6 × 59.5 cm screen printing Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall from the Montaru series
8th Max Beckmann The Koenigin Bar with Self Portrait 1920 31.7 x 25.5 cm etching Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
9 Max Beckmann Self portrait 1922 53 x 41.7 cm Woodcut Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
10 Max Beckmann swimming pool no year 43 x 28.6 cm etching Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
11 Max Beckmann Rowers 1928 55.8 × 73 cm (black) chalk drawing Munich, Günther Franke Gallery today in the Deutsche Bank Collection Fig.
12 Max Beckmann Lion Tamer 1930 90 × 60 cm Mixed media ( mixed technique ) Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt Auctioned by Cornelius Gurlitt in 2011 at the Lempertz auction house for EUR 864,000. (Fig.)
13 Max Beckmann Zandvoort 1934 49.8 x 64.7 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt 2013 StA Augsburg (StA)
14a Hermann Blumenthal Two Youths 1933 19.6 × 15 cm etching Hamburg, Christian Adolf Isermeyer
BlumenthalYouths.jpg
14b Hermann Blumenthal Two Youths 1933 19.5 x 14.7 cm etching (Estate Blumenthal legacy Blumenthal )
15th Otto Dix lady 1922 35 × 28 cm etching Düren, Leopold Hoesch Museum II. State
16 Otto Dix Window 1923 40 × 30 cm watercolor Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
17th Max Ernst Imaginary Composition 1951 (before) 13 × 18 cm etching Düren, Leopold Hoesch Museum
18th Max Ernst phantom 1954 (approx.) 49 × 36 cm Color lithograph Celle, Lothar Pretzell
19th Lyonel Feininger West Deep III 1932 30 x 47.3 cm watercolor Mülheim, J. Schürer 2012 at Ketterer from private North-Rhine Westphalia collection sold for 82,960 EUR Fig.
20th Lyonel Feininger Fishing Boat at Swinoujscie 1934 30.2 x 46.4 cm watercolor Mülheim, J. Schürer Swinemünde fishing cutter , auctioned in 2004 at Ketterer from a private collection in North Rhine-Westphalia for EUR 24,570 Fig.
21st Lyonel Feininger Vision of a Vessel 1935 30.5 × 41 cm watercolor Krefeld, Krefeld Art Museums
22nd Werner Gilles Still life 1948 32.5 × 48 cm Oil painting on paper Düsseldorf, Hella Nebelung Gallery 2006 auctioned at Villa Grisebach for 11,500 EUR (auction 135, lot 320) Fig.
23 Werner Gilles Lament for the Head of Orpheus 1950 35 x 49.5 cm Oil on paper Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen
24 Werner Gilles Venit Mors 1950 62.2 x 48.3 cm Watercolor and tempera Düsseldorf, Galerie Alex Vömel
25th George grosz Street scene no year 42 × 30 cm watercolor Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
26th George grosz Tartarin Follows no year 48.4 x 32.7 cm ink Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
27 Karl Hartung Composition 1952 (approx.) 43.3 x 61.2 cm Chalk drawing Hamburg, Christian Adolf Isermeyer
28 Karl Hartung Composition 1952 (approx.) 61.2 x 43.3 cm Chalk drawing Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
29 Erich Heckel The Man 1913 43 × 21.5 cm Woodcut Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
30th Erich Heckel In Ostend 1915 36.5 × 27 cm, 36 × 29.6 cm, 36 × 27.3 cm Woodcut , hand-colored Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt triptych
31 Erich Heckel Mountain Landscape 1922 43.5 x 34.8 cm watercolor Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
32 Bernhard Heiliger Two Crouching Nude Women 1948 42.5 × 58.6 cm Chalk drawing Hamburg, Christian Adolf Isermeyer
33 Bernhard Heiliger Seated Man 1948 60.7 x 41.7 cm graphite Hamburg, Christian Adolf Isermeyer
34 Bernhard Heiliger Lying figures 1950 48.2 x 73.3 cm Graphite and pastel Berlin, Springer Gallery
35 Karl Hofer Two Women Friends 1923 45 × 57.2 cm Chalk drawing Munich, State Collection of Graphic Art, Munich
36 Karl Hofer Nude 1924 61.5 × 47.5 cm Chalk drawing Mülheim, J. Schürer
37 Wassily Kandinsky Sketch for 'Bright Pictures' 1913 25.8 x 34.6 cm watercolor Nuremberg, Germanic National Museum
38 Wassily Kandinsky Conclusion 1924 33.6 x 48.5 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
39 Wassily Kandinsky Weighted suspension 1924 48.5 x 33.6 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
40 Wassily Kandinsky Obstinate Brown 1925 47.7 x 31.7 cm watercolor Nuremberg, Ludwig Grote Stubborn Brown , auctioned at Sotheby’s on June 26, 2008, Lot 198, for £ 313,250 Fig.
41 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Circus rider 1913 67 × 51 cm Brush drawing Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
42 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Women Performers in Blue 1914 67 × 50.5 cm Pastel drawing Mülheim, J. Schürer Blue Artists , privately owned in 2003
Kirchner - Artists in Blue.jpg
43 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Portrait of Ludwig Schames 1917 56.5 x 27.7 cm Woodcut Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
44 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Woman in the night 1918 59 × 36 cm Woodcut , colored Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
45 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Mountain Firs 1921 59.5 × 33.5 cm Color woodcut Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
46 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Swiss peasants 1921 50 × 38 cm watercolor Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
47 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Nudes in the Woods 1935 (approx.) 35.2 x 49.5 cm Color woodcut Karlsruhe, State Art Gallery Karlsruhe
48 Paul Klee Greek and Barbarians 1920 38.8 x 27 cm Mixed media ( mixed technique ) Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
KleeGreekBarbarians.jpg
49 Paul Klee The buid of a smile 1921 36 × 25 cm Monotype with watercolor Düsseldorf, art collections of the city of Düsseldorf The Bud of the Smile , Inv. No. K 1949-90
Paul Klee - The Beginnings of a Smile - Google Art Project.jpg
50 Oskar Kokoschka Portrait of Else Heims 1920 (approx.) 64 × 45 cm Chalk drawing Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
51 Oskar Kokoschka Girl 1920 (approx.) 81.5 × 58 cm lithograph Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
52 Oskar Kokoschka Girl standing 1930 (approx.) 68 × 50 cm watercolor Mülheim, J. Schürer
53 Käthe Kollwitz Woman with Dead Child 1903 40.8 x 48 cm Chalk drawing Cologne, private collection Study for the etching of the same name
54 Käthe Kollwitz Battlefied 1907 48.8 x 40.7 cm Chalk drawing Cologne, private collection Preparatory drawing for plate VI of the Peasant War series
55 Käthe Kollwitz Self portrait 1923 36 × 29.5 cm Chalk drawing Cologne, private collection
56 Wilhelm Lehmbruck Nude 1912 75.5 x 53.1 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, art collections of the city of Düsseldorf = Standing nude from behind, K 1952-203
Wilhelm Lehmbruck - Standing Youth - Google Art Project.jpg
57 Wilhelm Lehmbruck Great Resurrection 1913 39.2 x 29.7 cm etching Munich, State Collection of Graphic Art, Munich
58 Wilhelm Lehmbruck Inondation 1914 39.5 × 29.5 cm etching Munich, State Collection of Graphic Art, Munich
59 August Macke Garden Café 1912 44.7 x 50 cm Colored ink Hamburg, CA Isermeyer
MackeGartencafe.jpg
60 August Macke Lady in Coach 1913 45 × 50 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
61 August Macke Bright House (Tunis) 1914 26.6 x 20.8 cm watercolor Bonn, Wolfgang Macke 2nd version of The Bright House (Bern) Fig.
62 August Macke Terrace of a Country House in Sr. Germanin (Tunis) 1914 22.7 x 28.7 watercolor Bonn, Wolfgang Macke today Münster, Westphalian State Museum
August Macke 048.jpg
63 August Macke With the Parrots 1914 29.5 x 35 cm Chalk drawing Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall With the parrots Fig.
64a Franz Marc Three Horses in front of Fir Trees 1911 17 × 21 cm graphite Munich, Modern Gallery Otto Stangl from a sketchbook
64b Franz Marc Landscape with Two Horses 1912 10.5 x 17 cm graphite Munich, Modern Gallery Otto Stangl from a sketchbook
65 Franz Marc Large horse 1913 (approx.) 45.8 x 38 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
MarcLarge Horse.jpg
66 Franz Marc Two horses 1913 (approx.) 23 x 29.5 cm Tempera on brown paper Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
67 Franz Marc Story of Creation I 1914 24 × 20 cm Woodcut Wuppertal, Municipal Museum
68 Franz Marc Story of Creation II 1914 24 x 20.2 cm Woodcut Düsseldorf, Galerie Alex Vömel
69 Gerhard Marcks Goat stove 1922 21 x 30.5 cm Woodcut Hamburg, Rudolf Hoffmann Gallery
70 Gerhard Marcks Studies of Models for the Sculpture 'The Prophetess' 1927 47 × 28 cm Pencil drawing Hamburg, Rudolf Hoffmann Gallery
71 Gerhard Marcks Charon 1946 22 × 35 cm Woodcut Hamburg, Rudolf Hoffmann Gallery
72 Ewald Mataré Nocturnal Meadow 1932 (approx.) 19.2 x 44.5 cm Woodcut Düsseldorf, Hans Lühdorf
73 Ewald Mataré Lying Horse 1950 (approx.) 40.2 x 41 cm Color woodcut Witten, private collection
74 Georg Meistermann Fire Dove 1953 35 x 43.2 cm Color lithography Greven, A. Henze
75 Paula Modersohn-Becker Child in the cradle 1903/04 (approx.) 25.6 x 28.2 cm Charcoal drawing Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen
Modersohn-Becker - Infant in a Chair.jpeg
76 Paula Modersohn-Becker Old Peasant Woman with Glass Bottle 1906 (approx.) 27.2 x 35 cm Charcoal drawing Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen
77 Paula Modersohn-Becker Mother and Child 1906 22.9 x 31.2 cm Charcoal drawing Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen
78 Otto Mueller At the waterside no year 50 × 67.5 com Watercolor and crayon Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
79 Otto Mueller Two girls 1920 (approx.) 43.5 × 34 cm lithograph Mülheim, J. Schürer
Otto Mueller Two Girls Half Nudes.jpg
80 Otto Mueller Dune Landscape 1921 (approx.) 30 × 41.5 cm lithograph Mülheim, J. Schürer
81 Otto Mueller Gypsy woman with Child on Arm 1927 68.5 × 50 cm Color lithography Mülheim, J. Schürer from the gypsy folder
Otto Mueller - Gypsy Madonna - 1926-27.jpeg
82 Ernst Wilhelm Nay Wedding of Aenor 1944 23.7 x 30 cm tempera Düren, Günther Peill
83 Ernst Wilhelm Nay In the garden 1947 25.2 x 12.3 cm tempera Düren, Günther Peill
84 Ernst Wilhelm Nay Three graces 1948 28 × 38 cm tempera Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen
85 Rolf Nesch Sebastian 1940 60 x 43.3 cm Color metal print Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
86 Rolf Nesch Cock 1955 59.5 × 43.5 cm Color metal print Berlin, Springer Gallery
87 Emil Nolde Discussion 1913 79.7 × 58 cm Lithograph , hand-colored Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt Sample pressure ( preliminary print )
88 Emil Nolde Young Danish Woman 1913 68.5 x 56.8 cm Color lithography Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
89 Emil Nolde Dancer 1913 54.3 x 68.7 cm Color lithography Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
90 Emil Nolde Young couple 1913 61.7 × 50.5 cm Color lithography Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
91 Emil Nolde Head of a South Sea Islander 1913/14 (approx.) 50.3 × 36 cm watercolor Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum
92 Emil Nolde Sunflowers and red blossoms 1920/25 (approx.) 45.5 x 34.9 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Galerie Alex Vömel
93 Emil Nolde Landscape in Jutland 1920/25 (approx.) 34 x 47.7 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
94 Max Pechstein Fishermen in the surf 1920 51 x 74.7 cm watercolor Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum ( Haubrich collection )
95 Christian Rohlfs Return of the Prodigal Son 1916 50 × 36.5 cm Color woodcut Mülheim, J. Schürer
96 Christian Rohlfs Cathedral and Severi Church in Erfurt 1924 51.3 x 72 cm Tempera on paper Hiddesen, Helene Rohlfs
97 Christian Rohlfs Still life 1926 51.5 x 70.7 cm Tempera on paper Hiddesen, Helene Rohlfs
98 Christian Rohlfs Calla 1937 78.5 × 58 cm Tempera on paper Dortmund, Museum am Ostwall
RohlfsCalla.jpg
99 Oskar Schlemmer Dancer 1923 60.5 × 39 cm lithograph Stuttgart, Tut Schlemmer
100 Oskar Schlemmer Between the Pillars 1928 55.7 x 43 cm watercolor Stuttgart, Tut Schlemmer
101 Oskar Schlemmer Two women 1931 (approx.) 55 × 37.5 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
102 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Journey of the Disciples to Emmaus 1918 39.6 × 50 cm Woodcut Düren, Günther Peill
103 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Christ and Judas 1918 39.5 × 50 cm Woodcut Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
104 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Turf Pond 1927 50 × 68.5 cm watercolor Krefeld, Krefeld Art Museums Peat pond
105 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Ponte Nomentano 1930 56.7 x 75.8 cm watercolor Wuppertal, Von der Heydt Museum
106 Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Village in Ticino 1930 (approx.) 56.5 × 78 cm watercolor Düsseldorf, Hildebrand Gurlitt
107 Hans Uhlmann Composition 1949 49 × 68.5 cm watercolor Hamburg, CA Isermeyer
108 Theodor Werner Composition 39/55 1955 47.6 x 66.3 cm Mixed media Berlin, Springer Gallery
109 Fritz Winter Composition 1949 17.2 x 21.8 cm tempera Munich, Modern Gallery Otto Stangl
110 Fritz Winter Composition 1949 21.7 x 17.2 cm Crayon Munich, Modern Gallery Otto Stangl
111 Fritz Winter Composition 1950 48.5 × 62.5 cm Oil on paper Dorsten, Albert Schulze-Vellinghausen

See also

literature

  • German watercolors, drawings and prints [1905-1955]. A midcentury review, with loans from German museums and galleries and from the collection Dr. H. Gurlitt. American Federation of Arts, New York 1956 ( digitized , Hathi Trust)
  • Anton Henze : German art for America. In: The work of art . 9 (1955) 4, pp. 54f.

Web links

Commons : German watercolors, drawings and prints: A midcentury review  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julia Voss: Raubkunst: Ablasshandel mit der Moderne , FAZ from November 27, 2013, accessed on November 27, 2013
  2. ↑ So the acknowledgments in the catalog
  3. ↑ a b c Henze (lit.)
  4. ^ [1] New York Times, May 27, 1956, accessed November 22, 2013.
  5. ^ A b German Mid-Century Review At Busch Reisinger , article in Harvard Crimson of October 16, 1956, accessed on November 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ ... may acquaint American art lovers with German art of our century and, we hope, find new friends for it in USA.
  7. ^ Max Beckmann , Lempertz.com, accessed November 4, 2013.
  8. ↑ Sale: 392 / Modern Art, June 09. 2012, Lot: 72 Feininger, Lyonel West Deep III, 1932
  9. ↑ Auction: 290 / Bauhaus on May 14, 2004 Lot: 377 Feininger, Lyonel Swinemünder Fischkutter, 1934
  10. ↑ Lot 198
This article can not be adequately illustrated due to copyright reasons . At the moment there are no or only individual suitable images available, which are sufficiently licensed for further use .
See also the FAQ on images and image rights .