Untitled [Street Scene]

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Untitled [Street Scene]

Artist Ludwig Meidner (German, 1884-1966)

Date1913

DimensionsSheet: 16 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (410 x 310mm)
Images: 6 5/8 x 5 1/2 in. (169 x 139mm)

MediumDrypoint on tan wove paper

ClassificationPrints

Credit LineGift of Barbara Sunderman Hoerner

Object number

2002.28

Not on View

DescriptionOne drypoint engraving on wove paper, signed and dated in pencil. One drypoint engraving on wove paper, signed and dated in pencil.

Label TextStreet scenes of Berlin and its environs, Ludwig Meidner was particularly drawn to the frenetically expanding metropolis that he found brutal, menacing, thrilling, corrupt, and on the verge of catastrophic self-destruction. This drypoint of Wilmersdorf, a Berlin suburb, reflects the social and emotional upheaval of Germany on the brink of what artists ands other intellectuals hoped would be a cathartic and regenerative apocalypse. Buildings are on In his the verge of collapse, the sky bursts with dynamic power both energetic and terrifying, while the isolated residents plod on, seemingly unaware of the coming storm. As Meidner wrote, “Painters, poets—who else is obliged to fight for the just cause but we? In us the conscience of the world pounds mightily.”Published Referencescf.: Ludwig Meidner: An Expressionist Master (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1978): 67-68. cf.: Ludwig Meidner: Apocalyptic German Expressionist (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Center, 1976). cf.: Disengni di Ludwig Meidner (Milan: Galleria del Levante, 1965). cf.: Eliel, Carol, The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Ludwig Meidner, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989. cf.: Breuer, Gerda, Ludwig Meidner: Zeichner, Maler, Literat 1884-1966, Darmstadt, Ausstellunshallen Mathildenhohe Darmstadt, 1991.Exhibition HistoryTMA New Works on Paper Dec. 2005 - Mar. 5, 2006