Steamers, Dykes, Dramas Prints from the Collection and Contemporary Positions

19. February 2023 to 18. June 2023

For the first time, the MKdW is centring an exhibition around its collection of prints. The focus is on the period between 1890 and 1930 – years that were particularly fruitful for printmaking, which was rediscovered as a medium of individual artistic expression at that time. This resulted in a great deal of diversity in terms of motif and aesthetics. Prints also played an important role in self-marketing and opening up new circles of customers in the case of artists like Max Liebermann, Edvard Munch and Emil Nolde.

 

As in the field of painting, the image of the sea and coast also underwent a transformation in printmaking: etchings by Liebermann and Maximilien Luce transfer the shimmering play of colour and light in (late) impressionism to the black-and-white visual aesthetic. Depicting atmospheric phenomena and capturing evocative moments in a sketch-like manner were the main priority. Among the younger generation of artists – such as Munch, Nolde, Otto Mueller or Max Kahlke – the experience of nature became increasingly individualised and is depicted in a fantastically heightened form. It became possible to experience nature as a paradise, a lost Garden of Eden or a powerfully mystical place.

 

A predilection for narrative additionally finds expression in a few series of prints, for example, in the pictures based on Theodor Storm’s The Rider on the White Horse, where the landscapes surrounding North Frisia’s dykes become the scene of an existential drama.

 

A selection of contemporary positions represented by Are Andreassen, Marie-Louise Exner and Henrieke Strecker enter into a dialogue with the works from the collection and expand their vision to include current perspectives.

Max Kahlke
Sturm
Max Kahlke
Sturm

n. d., Holzschnitt, aus der Mappe: Von Marsch und Küste, 1924,
© Museum Kunst der Westküste, Foto: Lukas Spörl

Edvard Munch
Mondschein I
Edvard Munch
Mondschein I

1896, Farbholzschnitt, © Museum Kunst der Westküste, Foto: Lukas Spörl

Max Liebermann
Am Strande (Nordwijk)
Max Liebermann
Am Strande (Nordwijk)

1914, Kaltnadel,
© Museum Kunst der Westküste, Foto: Lukas Spörl

Alexander Eckener
Der Schimmelreiter. Von Theodor Storm. Mit Radierungen von A. Eckener
Alexander Eckener
Der Schimmelreiter. Von Theodor Storm. Mit Radierungen von A. Eckener

1939, Kaltnadel,
© Museum Kunst der Westküste

Emil Nolde
Kirche und Schiff, Sonderburg
Emil Nolde
Kirche und Schiff, Sonderburg

1907/1915, Farblithografie, Museum Kunst der Westküste,
© Nolde Stiftung Seebüll 2023

 
Otto Mueller
Zwei Badende im Bach
Otto Mueller
Zwei Badende im Bach

um 1922, Farblithografie, Dauerleihgabe, Foto: Lukas Spörl

Henrieke Strecker
The Attempt of Reaching the Distant Shore
Henrieke Strecker
The Attempt of Reaching the Distant Shore

2020, Monotypie,
© Courtesy the artist

Marie-Louise Exner
Engen / Wiese
Marie-Louise Exner
Engen / Wiese

2010, Ätzradierung, © Courtesy the artist

Are Andreassen
Gadus Morhua / Kabeljau
Are Andreassen
Gadus Morhua / Kabeljau

2018, Farbholzschnitt (aus der 15-teiligen Holzschnittserie Røst),
© Courtesy the artist, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023