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This stylised woodcut by Ali Kurt Baumgarten (1914-2009) depicts a shepherd guiding his flock across a simplified, pastoral landscape, rendered in bold, organic shapes that convey rhythm and movement with striking clarity. Evoking the charm of a children’s storybook, the figures and forms are pared down to their essentials, with strong contours and playful proportions that balance simplicity with expressive power. The subtle texture of the woodcut medium adds warmth and vitality, while the composition’s illustrative quality captures a quiet harmony between human and animal, transforming a humble rural scene into a work of enduring visual poetry. Signed in graphite and dated to the lower right. On Japanese paper.
Condition
In fine condition.
Size
60 x 49cm (23.6" x 19.3")
Collection Information
This collection of woodcuts showcases Baumgarten's mastery of the medium and his distinctly Expressionist vision. Bold contrasts of black and white animate dynamic landscapes of stylized trees, rolling hills, and rustic architecture, while sweeping lines evoke movement and energy. His figurative work reveals faces rendered with angular intensity, echoing the emotional directness of the Brücke artists who preceded him.
Together, these prints demonstrate Baumgarten's deep engagement with the German Expressionist tradition and his ability to infuse natural and human subjects with restless vitality.
Ali Kurt Baumgarten (1914-2009) was a German artist often regarded as the last German Expressionist. His vividly colored works featured expressive, unconventional subjects that clashed with Nazi ideology, leading to a ban on his artistic practice during that period. Undeterred, he created a woodcut dedicated to jazz music in 1935, despite the genre being officially condemned in Germany at the time.
Later, while living in the GDR, Baumgarten also gained recognition as a toy designer. He died in Coburg in 2009, and his hometown of Judenbach in southern Thuringia has since honored his legacy with a permanent exhibition of his works.
