Verzweiflung (Despair) / Emil Nolde
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1965/2.72
- Title
- Verzweiflung (Despair)
- Artist
- Emil Nolde
- Artist Nationality
- German
- Artist Life Dates
- 1867-1956
- Medium and Support
- woodcut on paper
- Object Creation Date
- 1906
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- Germany (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Germany (nation)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Style/Group/Movement
- German expressionism
- Inscription
- Inscriptions, l.r. (in pencil): Emil Nolde 06 Variant title, l.l., possibly in Nolde's hand (in pencil): Elendiglied
- Dimensions
- 22.9 cm x 31.3 cm (9 in. x 12 5/16 in.)
- Century
- 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Primary Object Type
- chiaroscuro woodcut
- Physical Description
- Print featuring a image of a small boy and a bearded man standing at right near a body of water on left. Small bush at left and trees in the distance.
- Subject Matter
- Already a prolific etcher, Emil Nolde learned the art of woodcut during his brief association with Die Brücke in the years 1906 and 1907. This work from 1906 is part of the artist’s series Märchen (Fairy Tales), made up of ten woodcuts illustrating individual scenes loosely adapted from folk legends, proverbs, and Bavarian glass painting.
- In Despair we see an excellent example of Nolde’s early mastery of this print technique. He often incorporated the knots, grains, and inherent imperfections of the wood into his printed works. In this early print we see this impulse not only to make the grain visible but to incorporate it as the basis for the flowing waves of the water, the windblown clouds overhead, and the bent posture of the man at the water’s edge. Further example of his early skill is seen in the bush at the left of the composition, which the artist added using either wood plugs or putty to fill in a previously carved area. The addition creates a formal delineation between foreground and background, giving the entire work a depth it would not otherwise possess.
- Secondary Keywords
- descriptors
- european
- european styles and periods
- inorganic material
- materials
- materials by composition
- modern and contemporary art
- modern european fine arts styles and movements
- modern european styles and movements
- movement
- people
- people (agents)
- people and culture
- people by gender
- styles and periods
- styles and periods by region
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1211 x 871
- File Size
- 105 KB
- Record
- 1965/2.72
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1965-sl-2.72/1965_2.72.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"Verzweiflung (Despair); Emil Nolde." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1965-sl-2.72/1965_2.72.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 18, 2024.
