Mann und Weibchen, 1912
Emil Nolde (born Emil Hansen)expand_more
Woodcut on cream paperexpand_more
Gifts of funds from Barbara Longfellow and Janet Jones, and the Richard Lewis Hillstrom Fundexpand_more 2019.34
Not on Viewexpand_more
In this bold image, Expressionist Emil Nolde melds technique and subject as a means to escape the stifling regimentation Imperial Germany. Like several other artists of his time, his search for purity led him to so-called primitive cultures, here represented by two figures half-clothed in boldly-patterned cloth seated beneath a starry sky. Rather than carving supple lines, as he had been trained to do in his youth, Nolde hacked at the woodblock to give the image an uncivilized feel. This work thus taps into many issues currently debated in the art world: What is the role of exoticism' Who gets to work in what style to tell whose story' What is the role and limitation of the stereotype' How do we of the present deal with the art of the past'
Details
- Title
- Mann und Weibchen
- Artist Life
- 1867–1956
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2019.34
- Provenance
- Private collection, Würtemberg, Germany; (Ketterer, Munich, December 9, 2017, lot 624, sold to Burns); (Catherine Burns Fine Art, Berkeley, California); sold to MIA, 2019.
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Schiefler-Mosel-Urban H iii/iii
- Curator Approved
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