Karl Michel

'Karl Michel Exhibition' — German Expressionism

1924

Karl Michel, 'Viel Gluck 1923 Wunscht Karl Michel', etching, 1923, edition not stated but small. Signed, dated, and numbered 'op. 136' in pencil. Signed in the image, lower right. A...

Karl Michel, 'Ex Libris Dr. Witropp - Homunculus und Galatee', etching, 1923, edition not stated. Signed, dated, and numbered 'Op. 140' (the artist's inventory number) in pencil. Si...

Karl Michel, 'Mehr Sonne fur 1924. Viel Gluck Wunscht Karl Michel U. Frau', woodcut, 1924, edition 20. Signed, dated, and numbered 'op. 162' and '15/20' in pencil. Signed in the image, lower left. A fine, richly-inked impression on buff wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches), in very good condition. Printed by the artist. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. New Year's Greeting – English translation: "More Sun for 1924. Good Luck Wishes from Karl Michel and his Wife." Image size 4 5/8 x 4 3/4 inches (118 x 121 mm); sheet size 7 3/4 x 10 inches (198 x 254 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Michel’s work was the subject of a feature article in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat...

Karl Michel, 'Venus, Ex Libris - Hanns U. Herta Heeren', woodcut, 1923, edition not stated but small. Signed, dated, and numbered 'op.154' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower left. A fine impression, on cream Japan paper, with full margins (15/16 to 2 11/16 inches), in good condition. Printed by the artist. Matted to museum standards (unframed). . Translation: Venus Ex Libris for Hanns and Herta Heeren. Image size 5 15/16 x 4 inches (156 x 102 mm); sheet size 9 5/8 x 6 inches (245 x 152 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Michel’s work was the subject of a feature article in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat (The Poster) in 1920. An anti-war advocate, Michel created a suite of 12 wood engravings depicting his impressions of the humanitarian toll of WWII entitled ‘Humanitas’ (Humanity). The German publishing house Greifenverlag published the series in a reduced folio of unsigned prints. Michel’s graphic work is held in the permanent collections of the Auckland War Memorial Museum (New Zealand), Frederikshavn Kunstmuseum & Exlibrissamling (Denmark), Museum of Applied Arts (Budapest), The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the German Expressionism...

Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East...

Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East. In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color. SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920. The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino poster...

Lithograph on Van Gelder Zonen Bütten paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, Der Mensch ist kein Haustier, 1937. Published by...

Ackermann, Max (German, 1887-1975). DIE SCHAUSPIELERIN HILDE KORBER. Etching, 1928. A proof before, or in addition to the edition of 200. Signed and dated "Max Ackermann 1928" in pen...