A picture like a poem
With the exhibit A Picture like a Poem. Max Liebermann, Ernst Barlach, Hans Meid and Karl Walser and their view on Goethe´s poetry the Casa di Goethe presents a further highlight of its collection dedicated to Classical Modernism.
Opening: Thursday, 23rd February, 2012 at 7.30 p.m.
The creation of the lithographs on display is due to the famous Berlin publisher and arts dealer Paul Cassirer (1871-1926). He had a great passion for the illustration of books and magazines of outstanding quality. In 1924 he initiated a series of portfolios by contemporary artists dedicated to the poems of Goethe.
Max Liebermann (1847-1935) and Ernst Barlach (1870-1939) created the first two portfolios, following Hans Meid (1883-1957) and Karl Walser (1877-1943). The series should have continued with Max Slevogt, Oskar Kokoschka and Erich Heckel, but Cassirer’s suicide put an end to the project.
The four portfolios, consisting of 104 chalk lithographs for 49 selected poems of Goethe, show the different approach of each artist. The artists were allowed to make their personal choice of poems, though the same poem could not be illustrated more than once.
Liebermann was inspired mainly by the atmosphere of Goethe's ballads; his interpretation of the ballad „The Fisherman“ became a sensitive love story.
Unlike Barlach who chose poems addressing human existential hardships and fear. In his illustrations of „The Erlking“ and „The Sorcerer's Apprentice“these powers appear masterfully.
Meid chose well known examples of love and nature lyrics; his illustrations are a faithful interpretation of Goethe’s texts and reflect their authentic atmosphere.
Walser’s burlesque graphics for lieder and elegiac poems are often reduced only to few lines. They reveal the artist’s confrontation with modern French art.
Paul Cassirer published the portfolio in an unique edition of 100 numbered copies. It is considered a book illustration masterpiece of German Impressionism.
On the occasion of the opening on February 23 Alex Pascoli and Massimiliano Vado will be reading Goethe's poems. (More readings: 15th March, 19th April and 19th May).
Catalogue: Goethe-Gedichte illustriert: Max Liebermann, Ernst Barlach, Hans Meid und Karl Walzer im Verlag Paul Cassirer (1924-1926). With the contribution of Andreas Henning, Casa di Goethe 2000
