Klinger, Max (1857 - 1920)

Max Klinger was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1857. During his life he was one of the most influential artists in Germany. Klinger was a painter and a sculptor as well as a printmaker, however, this exhibition concentrates on his print cycles, the prints are all etchings. Klinger greatly influenced a number of artists - including the German artist Kathe Kollwitz the Norwegian Evard Munch and the Italian surrealist artist de Chirico. De Chirico said of Klinger, "The modern artist par excellence. Not modern in the contemporary sense, but in the sense of being a conscientious man who took heed of centuries of artistic and intellectual heritage". Klinger studied in Berlin and Brussels, then moved to Paris. He travelled in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands before settling in Leipzig where he became Professor at the Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig in 1897. His travels greatly influenced his work and while in Paris he studied the work of Goya and Puvis de Chavannes. His interest in and knowledge of classical myths and legends is very evident in much of his work as is Klinger's interest in music. Klinger numbered his prints Opus as if each print cycle were a symphony. He believed that printmaking was a means by which the visual artist could emulate the way that music or poetry evoke emotions. He was a contemporary of and an acquaintance of the composers Mahler and Brahms to whom he would later dedicate several drawings (Brahms Fantasy). This exhibition is courtesy of the Goethe Institut, Manchester and the Institut for Cultural Affairs, Stuttgart