WOODCUTS NOW AND THEN
17.00 (GMT) / 12.00 (EST)
TUESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2024
Drawn from the captivating exhibitions The Devil is in the Detail: Dürer's Great Passion and Early Woodcuts from the Schroder Collection and There Goes the Sun, featuring the work of contemporary artist Christiane Baumgartner, this online-conversation promises to offer an immersive exploration of woodcut techniques across time.
Join us for a compelling dialogue that unites experts from both exhibitions, delving into the timeless technical mastery that continues to enthral.
With Caterina Badan, curator of the Schroder Collection, Jonathan Watkins, curator of There Goes the Sun exhibition at Strawberry Hill House & Garden, and contemporary artist and engraver Christiane Baumgartner (Cristea Roberts Gallery).
The talk will be chaired by artist, printmaker and Royal Academician, Anne Desmet.
Register now to attend this talk online.
Jonathan Watkins is an independent curator and writer. He was Director of Ikon Gallery (Birmingham, UK) from 1999 until 2022, and previously Curator of the Serpentine Gallery (1995-97) and Director of Chisenhale Gallery (1990-95). He has curated international exhibitions including the Biennale of Sydney (1998), Tate Triennial (2003), Shanghai Biennale (2006), Sharjah Biennial (2007), Guangzhou Triennial (2012) and The Quebec City Biennial (2019). Jonathan Watkins won the 1992 Prudential Award for Visual Arts, UK and in 2013 was nominated as one of the top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine. In 2019 he received the inaugural Ampersand Foundation Award to realise the exhibition of his dreams (Carlo Crivelli, Ikon 2022).
Dr Caterina Badan is an art historian whose PhD focused on illustrations in early printed books. As the Curator of the Schroder Collection, she looks after Renaissance silver, Northern Renaissance portraits, Seventeenth-century Dutch paintings, Italian maiolica, bronzes, and antique books. In her role she aims to make these rare and precious objects accessible to a wide audience. She has curated Illustrating the World: Woodcuts in the Age of Dürer (Holburne Museum, Bath) and is the author of the catalogue The Devil is in the Detail: Dürer's Great Passion and early woodcuts from the Schroder Collection.
Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London. Photo Werner Lieberknecht
Christiane Baumgartner was born in 1967 in Leipzig, Germany, and studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst before completing her Masters in Printmaking at the RCA, London in 1999. Baumgartner is best known for monumental woodcuts based on her own films and stills. In 2005 she had her first institutional exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and a year later was included in the groundbreaking exhibition, Eye on Europe, at MoMA, New York. A major retrospective toured Europe in 2015-16, followed by solo exhibitions at MFA Boston (2017) and the Davis Museum (2018). Baumgartner's work is held in over fifty public collections around the world. Christiane Baumgartner lives in Leipzig, Germany.
Anne Desmet RA is an artist-printmaker specialising in wood engraving, for which she has won 40 awards and has works in museum collections worldwide. Over 50 solo shows include six at national and international museums. Desmet is author of seven books on printmaking/drawing and was editor of Printmaking Today magazine (1998-2013). Commissions include engravings for the British Museum; National Gallery; British Library; V&A; Sotheby's and the Royal Mint. Only the third wood engraver ever elected to membership of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA), she has a major solo exhibition at London's Guildhall Art Gallery from April - September 2024.
About The Devil is in the Detail: Dürer's Great Passion
and Early Woodcuts from the Schroder Collection
&
Christiane Baumgartner. There Goes the Sun
15 October 2023 - 10 April 2024
From the rich history of the German Renaissance to the modern innovations of today, this double exhibition at Strawberry Hill House provides a rare opportunity to witness the evolution of this intricate art form that was much admired by Horace Walpole.
The Devil is in the Detail offers a rare opportunity to see the complete set of Albrecht Dürer's Great Passion, one of the most important series of woodcuts in his career. Created during a 14-year period and published as a set in 1511, it illustrates the evolution of the artist's style. It tracks his gradual mastery of the technique and the impact of the Italian Renaissance, which led him to create more clear compositions, highlighting symmetry and balance, as opposed to the busy aesthetic of the earlier gothic output.
The works on display will chart the meteoric rise of the woodcut technique in Europe. From its beginnings with the decorative illustrations to the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, through to Dürer's identification and championing of it as a pursuit of pure artistry, and its eventual weaponization as a propaganda tool, where political attacks or revolutionary ideas would lurk in the details of the new imagery.
Accompanying this historic display is There Goes the Sun, an exhibition of 5 modern woodcuts by contemporary artist Christiane Baumgartner. Her innovative approach fuses traditional woodcut techniques with modern technology, resulting in artworks that capture the setting sun's poignant beauty.
Tickets included in general admission.
To book and learn more please visit: https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/the-devil-is-in-the-detail-there-goes-the-sun/.
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