- Also known as
-
Max Klinger
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primary name: Klinger, Max
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other name: Klinger, Max Geog
- Details
- individual; painter/draughtsman; sculptor/medallist; printmaker; German; Male
- Life dates
- 1857-1920
- Biography
- Painter, sculptor, engraver and writer. Born in Leipzig; Studied in Karlsruhe from 1874; Spent the summer of 1875 in Berlin; In Brussels, 1879; In Munich, 1880, then from 1881 in Berlin; Lived intermittently in Paris, 1883-86; Returned to Berlin, 1887; Lived in Rome, 1888-93; Took up a position as a master-engraver at the art academy in Dresden, 1890s; Offered a studio in Weimar by the Grand Duke, 1892; Returned to Leipzig, 1893, living intermittently in Berlin; Later taught in Vienna and Leipzig; Member of the Vienna Secession; Died in Grossjena, near Naumburg.
In his essay 'Malerei und Zeichnung' (Painting and Drawing), published in 1891, Klinger set out his ideas that painting should reflect the beauty of the visible world, while prints had the function of showing the 'dark side of life'; they should express the deepest convictions of the artist and even evoke 'associations' in the mind of the viewer, as poetry or music might. Klinger's ideas inspired many artists, including Käthe Kollwitz, to take up printmaking.
- Bibliography
- Hans Wolfgang Singer, "Max Klingers Radierungen, Stiche und Steindrücke", Berlin, 1909 (nos.1-331)
Carl Beyer, "Max Klingers graphisches Werk 1909-1919", Leipzig 1930 (nos.332-453)
'Incubi nordici e miti mediterranei: Max Klinger e l'incisione simbolista mitteleuropea' exhibition catalogue edited by Emanuele Bardazzi, Giulia Ballerini and M. Donata Spadolini, Florence, Centro Espositivo A. Berti, 2014-15.
