This exhibition is a first. During the Middle Ages, woodcut printing culminated with the work of Albrecht Dürer. As an artistic technique, it moved more and more into the background over the centuries, only to eventually go through a groundbreaking rediscovery throughout Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Many important members of the Vienna Secession and some now almost forgotten artists brought the color woodcut to life again. SCHIRN dedicates this hitherto neglected phenomenon an extensive, long-overdue exhibition. For the first time, the aesthetic and social achievements of woodcut printing in Vienna at the turn of the century will be comprehensively presented. Including related techniques such as linocut and stencil prints, around 170 works will provide an impressive overview. The exhibition explores the extraordinary enthusiasm with which artists used the color woodcut technique in Vienna between 1900–1910. The scope for experimentation offered immense artistic freedom. Within an “Art for All” movement, color woodcuts sparked a lively discussion about authenticity, originality and affordability for ordinary people on the one hand, and the making of art beyond the ivory tower and its popularization on the other. Issues that have hardly lost relevance to the present day. The color woodcuts strongly contributed to an art that aspired to cover all aspects of life. The exhibition will present outstanding loans from the great Viennese museums and institutions, as well as from estates and private collections.

An exhibition by SCHIRN in cooperation with Albertina, Vienna.