Printmaking is often an under-apprecaited, and under-represented creative pursuit, both in contemporary art, and when looking historically at the development of art. One such historical movement in which the impact of print making cannot be ignored is that of German Expressionsim.
A new exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York aims to show just how important the medium of print was to the Expressionist movement in Germany and Austria in the early part of the 20th century, which includes the showing of a range of prints, drawings, posters, illustrated books and periodicals.
The German Expressionist movement was one of the most wide ranging, and explosive movements of the 20th century with various groups of artists working to explore a personal expression of what it meant to be human at a time when Europe was on the verge of war and Germany was to play a central role in the upheaval.
What was perhaps unique to Germany at that time, was just how many of it's artists took to the graphic medium as a way of expressing themselves, and how the medium became paramount to social, political and aesthetic modes of expression from around 1905, through to the 1920's.
Amongst the most notable artists to be using the medium of print at that time were Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Oskar Kokoschka, Otto Dix, George Grosz and Egon Schiele.
The exhibition at MoMA will run until 11th July 2011, and features more than 250 works from 30 different artists. The exhibition has been built up from a range of works that the museum has in it's own impressive holding of German Expressionist print works.
This is the first major exhibition to be devoted to the German Expressionist movement at MoMA since 1957, and celebrates one of the largest, and most representative holding of Expressionist works outside of Germany.