Members of the Brücke Artists' Group (Titelvignette) [Mitglieder der Künstlergruppe Brücke (title vignette)] (plate, folio 16 verso) from KG Brücke
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
German, 1880–1938
1910 (print executed 1907)
A small woodcut title vignette by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner printed in a Brücke exhibition catalogue, meant to announce the artists’ group and embody their raw, expressive aesthetic.
A compact black-and-white block that immediately arrests the eye with crude, energetic carving: bold, hand-lettered German text sits inside a heavy rectangular frame flanked by two elongated, simplified nude figures whose flattened silhouettes read like a primitive logo.
As a graphic emblem for Die Brücke, this woodcut illustrates the group’s revival of woodcut as an immediate, democratic medium and helped shape the visual language of German Expressionism and modern graphic design.
Medium
One from an exhibition catalogue with twenty woodcuts
Dimensions
composition: 1 15/16 x 2 15/16" (5 x 7.5 cm); page: 9 1/8 x 6 7/8" (23.1 x 17.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
General Print Fund
Accession
440.2010.16
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions