Portrait of an Old Woman (Porträt einer Greisin)

Ludwig Meidner

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

In the drypoint process, the image is carved directly into the copper plate, which leaves a rough raised edge, or burr, along the lines that creates a fuzzy quality. For his sensitive portrayal of an elderly woman, Ludwig Meidner chose this technique to emphasize the topography of her face, from the bold line of her mouth to her deep-set eyes.

German Expressionist prints, including this drypoint, first entered the Brooklyn Museum collection in 1937. Brooklyn was among the first major American museums to acquire such work, a bold move during a period when anti-German sentiment ran high in the United States. It was also in 1937 that the Nazis condemned artists such as Meidner in their Degenerate Art exhibition in Germany.

Caption

Ludwig Meidner (German, 1884–1966). Portrait of an Old Woman (Porträt einer Greisin), 1920. Drypoint on laid paper, Image (Plate): 9 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. (23.8 x 18.4 cm) Sheet: 15 3/4 x 11 11/16 in. (40 x 29.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of J. B. Neumann, 37.427. © Ludwig Meidner-Archive, Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Frankfurt am Main. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Portrait of an Old Woman (Porträt einer Greisin)

Date

1920

Geography

Place made: Germany

Medium

Drypoint on laid paper

Classification

Print

Dimensions

Image (Plate): 9 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. (23.8 x 18.4 cm) Sheet: 15 3/4 x 11 11/16 in. (40 x 29.7 cm)

Inscriptions

Lower right in graphite: "LMeidner"; lower left in graphite: "Greisin"; bottom center later addition graphite: "LUDWIG MEIDNER" Verso center in graphite: "37.427"

Markings

Verso stamped center: "BROOKLYN MUSEUM/BROOKLYN, N.Y." in rectangle (Lugt 307b)

Credit Line

Gift of J. B. Neumann

Accession Number

37.427

Rights

© Ludwig Meidner-Archive, Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Frankfurt am Main

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