The Bremen Town Musicians (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten), preparatory drawing for print, “Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten,” in Alfred Kubin, Abenteuer einer Zeichenfeder (Münich: R. Piper & Co., 1941) #13
Alfred Kubin
Description
Oskar Kokoschka
Austria, 1886–1980
The Pleading (Die Flehende)
1914
Lithograph
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.121
Alfred Kubin
Austria, 1887–1959
The Bremen Town Musicians (Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten)
1940
Graphite on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.118
Lovis Corinth
Germany, 1858–1925
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Eine feste Burg ist unser Gott)
1920
Ink on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.108
Prints and printing processes held a special position in the practices of Expressionist artists. On a practical level, prints were an easy way disseminate images and obtain income. For artists like Otto Dix and George Grosz, whose work had significant social and political dimensions, printmaking became a way to reach the masses. Yet prints were also a way to both tap into medieval German artistic traditions and reinvigorate traditional practices in the midst of increasing mechanization. Many Expressionists turned to German sources for their print subjects; these three works are based on a Bach cantata in the Kokoschka, a German folktale in the Kubin, and an illustrated history of Martin Luther in the Corinth.
Subject Matter:
Illustrates the moment in the folktale The Bremen Town Musicians, when the four animals - the donkey, sheep, cat, and rooster - appear in the window of a home and frighten the invading robbers so much that the robbers desert their gold.
Physical Description:
To the right, four animals - a donkey, goat, cat, and rooster - appear stacked upon one another in a barely sketched-in window. On the left side, four figures sit at what appears to be a meal in a dinning room, with a soup tureen and various dishes. The image is hastily sketched and few details are absolutely readable, other than basic shapes.
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