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Living, Building, Thinking: art and expressionism


The Vancouver Art Gallery
March 3 to May 21, 2018

Living, Building, Thinking: art and expressionism uses the German Expressionist collection from the McMaster Museum of Art to explore the development of Expressionism in art from the early nineteenth century to the present day. 

The term Expressionism is invariably associated with the period of art and social activism in Germany between 1905 and 1937, encompassing visual art, literature, philosophy, theatre, film, photography and architecture. In the context of an expanded view on the subject, Expressionism offers a rich and thought - provoking perspective on the relationships between artists and societies and the ever - changing responses and visual expressions that circulate through shared hopes and aspirations for social awareness and change. 

Living, Building, Thinking is comprised of more than ninety works in all mediums, including examples of European art from the sixteenth to early twentieth centuries by William Blake, Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch. Also highlighted are striking works from the German Expressionist and Weimar period, as well as mid - to - late twentieth century European paintings by artists like Jörg Immendorf, Ans lem Kiefer and Sigmar Polke. Canadian contemporary works by artists such as Barbara Astman, Natalka Husar, Nancy Johnson, Gary Pearson, Leopold Plotek and Tony Scherman demonstrate the lasting legacies of Expressionism. 

ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-01.jpg

Otto Dix, Portrait of Anna Grünebaum , 1926 oil, tempera and gesso on wood panel, Levy Bequest Purchase, with the assistance of the Government of Canada through a Department of Canadian Heritage, Cultural Property Export Review Board Purchase Grant, 1993 McMaster Museum of Art, © Estate of Otto Dix/SODRAC (2017) 



ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-03.jpg



Rainer Fetting
Back Nude—Donald
, 1986
oil on canvas
Gift of Leon Liffmann, 2010  
McMaster Museum of Art
© Rainer Fetting/SODRAC
(2018)

 ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-04.jpg

Anselm Kiefer
Yggdrasil
, 1985–91
emulsion, acrylic (partially charred) and
melted lead on canvas
Levy Bequest Purchase, 1993 
McMaster Museum of Art
© Anselm Kiefer

ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-05.jpg

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Toilettemachende Mädchen
[Girls at
their Toilette], 1910
lithograph on paper
Gift of Mr. Walter Carsen, 1977 
McMaster Museum of Art

ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-02.jpg
Max Beckmann
Die Enttäuschten II
[The Disappointed
Ones], 1922
lithograph on paper
Purchase, 1979 
McMaster Museum of Art
© Estate of Max Beckmann/SODRAC
(2018)

ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-06.jpg

Edvard Munch
Der Kuss
[The Kiss], 1897–1902
woodcut from two blocks on tissue-thin
Japan paper
Levy Bequest Purchase, 1993 
McMaster Museum of Art

 ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-07.jpg
Natalka Husar
Commissar’s Daughter
, 2007
oil on rag board
Gift of the Artist, 2011 
McMaster Museum of Art     
© Natalka Husar

 Gershon Iskowitz, Buchenwald

Gershon Iskowitz
Buchenwald
, 1944–45
watercolour and ink on paper mounted
on cardboard
Levy Bequest Purchase, 1993 
McMaster Museum of Art
© The Gershon Iskowitz Foundation

ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-08.jpg
Christian



Rohlfs
Paar,
 1910–11
watercolour and charcoal on paper
Donald Murray Shepherd Trust
Purchase, 2011 
McMaster Museum of Art

 ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-09.jpg
Käthe Kollwitz
Brustbild einer Arbeiterfrau mit blauem
Tuch
 [Bust of a Working Class Woman
With a Blue Shawl], 1903
colour lithograph on sturdy tan wove
paper

 ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-10.jpg
Erich Heckel
Junges Mädchen
 [Young Woman], 1913
woodcut on silk Japan paper
Gift of Undercliffe Limited, 1990 
McMaster Museum of Art
 ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-12.jpg
Ernst Barlach
Die Dome
 [The Cathedrals], from the
portfolio
Die Wandlungen Gottes
[The
Transformations of God] 1920–21,
printed 1922
woodcut on paper
Gift of Janet Black, 1997 
McMaster Museum of Art


Paul Gauguin. Noa Noa (Fragrant Scent) from Noa Noa (Fragrant Scent). 1893–94

Paul Gauguin
Noa Noa
Embaumé Embaumé
.
[Fragrant Scent], 1893–94
woodcut on pale cream Japan paper
Levy Bequest Purchase, 1995  
McMaster Museum of Art

 ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-14.jpg

Hannah Hoch
Mutter und Kind (Selbstbildnis Traum)
[Mother and Child (Self portrait Dream)],
c.
1931
oil on cotton canvas
Donald Murray Shepherd Trust
Purchase, 2013
McMaster Museum of Art
© Estate of Hannah Höch/SODRAC

ftp://ftp.vanartgallery.bc.ca/MEDIA/Living_Building_Thinking/For_Online/LivingBuilding-13.jpg

Egon Schiele
Stehender Mann (Selbstbildnis)
[Standing Man (Self Portrait)], 1911
watercolour and gouache over pencil on
paper
Levy Bequest Purchase, 1992  
McMaster Museum of Art  

 



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