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I suppose anno 2023 it is something to be content with: Having actually collected 12 from the some 26 known prints by Johanna Metzner. To this day she is still one of the most illusive women printmakers. Not winning every auction (always low on budget) is a reality and a fact that has to be accepted: less prints on the market and more buyers. Three of her prints never seen on the market, came to light in Jan.-Febr. 2023: Flamingo’s (archive) and Aquarium (“Flossenblatt II”) + Drinking bird (“Bunte Kitta vom Himalaya”).
The last two prints have stayed together for 100 years, were auctioned separately but could be acquired for this collection united.
The known title “Flossenblatt-II” points to fish species Monodactylus setae, a well known aquarium fish from Amazonia. The fish depicted however is Pterophyllum scalare (moonfish). It is also suggestive there must be a “Flossenblatt-I”: Exciting !
The last example showed up in October 2023 in Canada. It is annoted in pencil in English (!) “Sailboat and clouds”. Another copy of this print was not seen in any auction or publication in the last 20 years not even in Germany. It emphasises two things… 1: we still have no idea what became of Johanna Metzner after 1927 and 2: we still have no clue concerning the possible number of surviving copies of “Art on Paper” other than to conclude this print, as are most of her prints, must be pretty rare …………. And edition numbers probably small.
gerbrandcaspers@icloud.com
