Feature Articles


November Issue 2001

The Strange, Bizarre and Beautiful Make Their Home at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC

Beginning on Nov. 15, The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, will exhibit a promised gift of 35 works on paper by German expressionist artist, Otto Neumann (1895-1975). Neumann, who grew up during the First World War, is best known for his drawings of grotesque figures. They are representative of the German expressionist movement during the 1920's and into the 1930's. In many ways, the expressionists' work exemplified the feelings of the German people during the first two World Wars.

Many of Neumann's pieces depict horrific scenes of distorted bodies including half-man half- beast images created for his Divine Comedy series that could only be conjured up in the worst of nightmares. Other pieces are tamer studies of the human form. "Whether Neumann is creating grotesque figures or abstractions based on the human form, all of his works have one thing in common, they are masterfully executed," says Curator at the Gibbes, Angela Mack.

The Neumann works include linocuts, monotypes, woodblocks and original watercolors on paper. The collection will be a gift to the Gibbes from the Rothschild family who are descendants of Neumann and have local ties to Charleston. Half of the collection will be on display for the public from Nov. 15 - Feb. 17, 2002.

A lecture by David Sokol, art history professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and Neumann expert, is also planned for Nov. 17 at 6pm with a reception to follow. Members will be admitted free of charge. Non-members are welcome to attend for the cost of admission.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Gibbes at 843/722-2706, or on the web at (http://www.gibbes.com).

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