Sommerabend
A large format xylographic (wood engraved) reproduction by Richard Bong, published in his “Moderne Kunst” magazine. After a painting by Hermann Schlittgen, a Prix de Rome winner, who exhibited the today considered “lost” painting in Berlin’s “Große Kunstausstellung” in 1893. Read all about Bong and his iconic publications (in its heydays 100.000 subscribers), and about talented painter Hermann Schlittgen in the accompanying book.
From the days of its invention by Thomas Bewick until the 1950s, when photographic methods finally equaled xylography in perfection and detail, it was the professional standard to produce quality reproductions. Wood engravers were highly talented and skilled professionals but mostly worked in the shadows of the artists. Bong is one of the few artists who stepped out.
Archive
Another example of a painting by Schlittgen using warm indirect light to create an atmosphere of warmth and intimacy. Besides winning the prestigious German Rome-preis, awarded by Max Klinger (1857-1920), he had also been a student of Jules Lefèbvre (1836-1911) in Paris, who was famous for his paintings of the female nude.
gerbrandcaspers@icloud.com
