Paperback, black and white images, 37 pages, W205 x H250mm
Published to coincide with the exhibition Max Klinger at Ikon Gallery, July – September 2005, this is the first English translation of Malerei und Zeichnung (Painting and Drawing), the theoretical essay published by German artist Max Klinger in 1891. Klinger is widely acknowledged to have been the original genius of modern print-making in Germany and has continued to be an influential figure especially for subsequent (modern and postmodern) expressionist and surrealist movements.
In this essay, Klinger explores connections between the highly respected art of painting and the traditionally lower status of drawing, or as he prefers to term it, the ‘graphic arts’. He argues: ‘In every cultured language, composition in oils, frescoes, gouaches, wartercolours and pastels are collectively described as painting. However, for works of art restricted to the monochromatic portrayal of light, shadows and forms, there is no accurate, collective term. Anyone who seeks closer acquaintance with the principles of the visual will soon come to feel that drawings – particularly engravings, etchings, woodcuts and lithographs with their own independent modes of expression – frequently contradict outright the demands of the aesthetics of painting, albeit without relinquishing the characteristics of a fully-fledged work of art.’
This publication presents the full text of Klinger’s essay, providing the contemporary reader with an opportunity to access the artist’s theories on ‘the exposition of the special status of drawing as an art and its relationship to other arts, particularly to painting.