Peasants Strolling (Bauerngang) from the illustrated book Deutsche Graphiker der Gegenwart (German Printmakers of Our Time)
Heinrich Campendonk
German, 1889–1957
1918, published 1920
A bold woodcut print by Heinrich Campendonk that condenses a peasant procession into decorative, simplified shapes and rhythmic black-and-white forms.
A narrow horizontal frieze of high-contrast silhouettes—curving animal bodies, a small human figure, fences and plant motifs—reads like a carved tale in which positive and negative space pulse with rhythmic energy.
Produced during the flowering of German Expressionism, this work helped revive the woodcut as a modern, expressive medium by fusing folk and medieval craft motifs with abstracted, decorative design for illustrated books.
Medium
Woodcut from an illustrated book with fifteen lithographs, eight woodcuts, eight reproductions and one lithographed cover
Dimensions
composition: 3 1/16 x 9 3/16" (7.7 x 23.4 cm); page: 12 3/4 x 9 9/16" (32.4 x 24.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
2.1942.11
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
