Thursday 17 August 2017

Klemm & Thiemann, modern woodcut in Prague: Eva Bendova (ed)


                                                                              

Quite  a long time ago, I tried to write  a post I called 'The studio in Liboc' about the early woodcuts made by the two Czech artists, Walther Klemm and Carl Thiemann. I must admit I didn't have much to go on on except a great liking for the work of both artists. I wasn't helped by the lack of images available online and especially a lack of dates for any of the ones I knew.  Im Frankfurter Hafen (1906), below, was one of those frustrating prints I have had illustrated in a book for many years but was too large to scan. But here it is now, in all its glory - and, I must add, owing something to Hugo Henneberg's print showing Trieste harbour (see the relevant recent post about his linocuts).
                                                                            

I am pleased to say that only today I heard about a book I think you need to have. It is Klemm & Thiemann: moderner holzschnitt in Prag published in Prague in 2016. It is in German and Czech and available from Narodni Galerie in Prague or at East View in U.S. dollars. A well-illustrated book and, I understand, an indispensable one. Anyway, they are both artists Modern Printmakers approves of, so you can't go wrong. You only have to apply the plastic.

                                                                               


There  was a related exhibition Land Tier Stadt Der Farbholzshcnitt in Prag um 1900 at the Ostdeutsche Galerie in Regensburg. Although that is now over, the gallery may be another source for the book for readers in Germany. All being well, Modern Printmakers hopes to review it at some point soon.
                                               

6 comments:

  1. Who is "EastView in the States"?

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    1. Hello, Scott. See the link I have added to the post.

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  2. I ordered a copy of this catalog from East View here in the US back in mid August. Took two months to get here, but it was worth the wait. Absolutely gorgeous book. The print quality was extraordinary. I saw many examples of Klemm and Thiemann's work I have never seen on the internet. Wish I could read the text, but the reproductions alone are worth the cost, at least to me. I thought I would share all of this in the event someone living in the US was considering a purchase through East View. I would recommend them, but be prepared for a wait.

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    1. Thanks for letting us know and glad to learn the link was useful and how much you liked the book. I contacted the gallery in Prague and they eventually sent me an invoice but sending an international bank payment would have made it expensive.

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  3. East View used a distributor in Europe to fulfill my order. They didn't order directly from the gallery. Perhaps they can steer you to their distributor for fulfillment?

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  4. Sorry to inform you that the catalogue is out of print already and they do not have an idea (or budget) yet whether there will be a second edition or not. In the meanwhile I would like to draw your attention to two other important catalogues that were published more or less in the same year (2017) and to me are as important as the Regensburg/Prague catalogue: (1) http://www.dachauer-galerien-museen.de/images/publikationen/big/klemm-big.jpg (part of the material is also featured in the Regensburg catalogue) and (2) http://www.vgs-sg.ch/katalog/b6di57f5zke8yh5pc17n3b2fhog1m8 and http://www.hmsg.ch/a_farbholzschnitt2016.asp (basically on Martha Cunz and her pupils, but also showing the context in Central Europe and giving detailled information about printing techniques, f.e. Cunz asked Thiemann for advise and he explored her how he produces and applies his colours to the blocks; the book also contains numerous Pictures of Cunz's woodblocks).
    Maybe you already knew about this, but I just wanted to make sure this Information does not get lost. By, the way: both publications also are in German only, but the illustrations need no words .....
    Regards, Wolfgang

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