Sun 1/14-Sun 5/13
One of the benefits of the vast permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art is its ability to put together intriguing shows about different periods, styles and topics by drawing on its own holdings.
One such show, opening this week in Gallery 101, the James and Hanna Bartlett Prints and Drawings Galley, is Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper.
The show features the work of early 20th century artists who formed groups to forge new, groundbreaking styles outside the formal academies. The work on display was produced by the groups Die Brücke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), who worked in Vienna and Berlin.
In order to create work that was loaded with heightened, direct emotions these artists relied heavily on drawings and prints – primarily woodcuts, as well as lithographic and etching techniques. The new exhibit includes 50 works by artists such as Emil Nolde, Erich Heckel and Egon Schiele, produced between 1905 and the early 1920s, that reflect the tension, anxiety, uncertainty and dread of the rapidly changing world of the early 20th century.
Graphic Discontent will be on view through Sun 5/13.