Frau am Steuer. Gelatin silver print. 1928-1934. 155 x 225 mm
Kunsthandel Jörg Maaß Rankestraße 24 10789 Berlin Allemagne
The Jörg Maaß Kunsthandel presents an exhibition of over fifty artworks by the artist and art theorist, Franz Roh.
The rich spectrum of collages, which were created within a period of four decades, lends a deeper understanding to the work of the imaginative, Franz Roh, who felt particularly connected to the artwork of his artist colleague and friend, Max Ernst.
His early works were designed with collaged elements from wood engravings, in which an intuitive process found a new context, and through which the lyrical-surrealistic, almost psychoanalytical titles were perfected.
Frauenakt sitzend. Gelatin silver print. 1928-1934. 146 x 146 mm
It is here we find rhinoceroses that hover in Rococo interiors, athletes fleeing erupting volcanoes and tipsy gentlemen dwelling on bodiless women’s legs.
The collages - showing an irrepressible, subtle humor – are proof that Franz Roh's work is not merely concerned with artistic experimentation or the critic's point of view but also reflect current events. Banned from teaching and writing during the Nazi years, he produced an enormous body of work.
Frauenakt vor dem Spiegel. Gelatin silver print. 1928-1934. 199 x 118 mm
Later during this period, he began incorporating photographic reproductions from illustrated magazines and advertising brochures into his work, until the end of the 1950s when he abandoned working with wood engravings altogether.
Schwips. Collage. 145 x 232 mm (198 x 295 mm)
The collages in this exhibition will be supplemented with fifteen early photographs (vintage gelatin silver prints) by Franz Roh, examples of his engagement with “new vision” photography. In 1929, together with Jan Tschichold, Roh dedicated the photographically historical and legendary photobook “foto-auge” to this movement.
Vignette : Frau am Steuer. Gelatin silver print. 1928-1934. 155 x 225 mm
