Jakob van Hoddis (recto); Untitled (Sketch of Buildings (verso)

Ludwig MeidnerWW-1909-083834

1909·Pen and brush and black ink, over graphite (recto), and graphite and charcoal (verso), on ivory wove paper·45.9 × 41.6 cm (18 1/8 × 16 7/16 in.)

Meidner depicted the Expressionist poet Jakob van Hoddis (Hans Davidsohn, 1887-1942) several times. He was one of Meidner' s best friends, and the two of them would frequently take evening walks together through the streets of Berlin. Perhaps the most influential of the Expressionist literati, van Hoddis is often credited with writing the first truly Expressionist poem, his Weltende (End of the World), which consummates the apocalyptic hopes and fears of his generation. In 1914, van Hoddis became mentally ill and was put in an institution, from which he would later be taken by the Nazis and killed.

Catalogue

Year: 1909
Medium: Pen and brush and black ink, over graphite (recto), and graphite and charcoal (verso), on ivory wove paper
Dimensions: 45.9 × 41.6 cm (18 1/8 × 16 7/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Ludwig Meidner

Artist

Ludwig Meidner

Painting

Painter and printmaker Ludwig Meidner was born in Bernstadt, Germany (today Bierutów, Poland), in 1884. As a young man, following the advice of his parents, he undertook an apprenticeship with a stonemason, but eventually left his position to study at the Königliche Kunstschule (Royal School of Art) in Breslau (now Wroclaw) for about two years beginning in 1903, before ultimately relocating to Berlin. Here, he established a career as a draftsman, and commonly garnered work as a fashion illustrator. He spent a brief time living in Paris, between 1906–07, where he took classes at the Académie Julian, and met and befriended fellow artist Amedeo Modigliani.

Frankfurt

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