Introduction Hermann Schnitzler (2 results)

Softcover. Dritte erweiterte Auflage. Softcover.

First and only edition, limited to 100 copies. Portfolio of 10 original woodcuts, each sheet titled and signed in pencil by the artist Hubert Berke. Each sheet measuring 40 x 30cm. Loosely contained within the original publisher's printed card wrappers with titles to the front, 2pp. introduction, and limitation to the rear. A very good copy, the card wrappers with some splitting to the fold (although remaining very secure), and some light scattered foxing. The woodcuts themselves with the very occasional dot of foxing, odd minor crease, or very minor nick to the edge of the blank margins, are otherwise in very good order, remaining clean and fresh. A striking suite of woodcuts by the German abstract expressionist artist and illustrator Hubert Berke (1908-1979). Born in Buer, Westphalia, Berke initially studied languages, philosophy and art history, then spent a period preparing to become a missionary in China, before finally transferring to the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1932. Here, he studied under Paul Klee, who was to be a highly influential figure in shaping his artistic outlook. Following the war, Berke went on to become one of the most important representatives of the lyrical abstraction (Informel) in Germany, and was a member of the Alfterer Donnerstags Gesellschaft and ZEN-49. The woodcuts in the present suite comprise abstract figural studies, including: Frauenkopf; Rückenakt; Mädchenakt; Tragödie; Melancholie; Ballade; Totentanz; Sumpfgesenster; Moorregen; and Eitelkeit.