FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Getty Research Institute Acquires 82 Prints by Max Liebermann
Alexandria Sivak
Getty Communications
(310) 440-6473
asivak@getty.edu
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“This set of pristine, well-documented prints by one of the most prolific and popular figures in modern German art is incredibly important for researchers and a beautiful addition to the Getty Research Institute’s special collections,” said Thomas W. Gaehtgens, director of the Getty Research Institute (GRI).
The collection of prints spans more than three decades of Liebermann’s career, from 1887 to 1922. Early works in the collection include idyllic country landscapes such as Grazing Goats, 1887, as well as interiors featuring ordinary people, such as The Midday Meal, 1888, or The Weaver, 1883, with a particular emphasis on the theme of work. The majority of the collection comprises views of the seaside, city streets, the opera, and other genre subjects. With the virtuosity of an old master painter-printmaker, Liebermann excelled at creating the effect of atmosphere in the various print media in which he worked. Many of the prints either inspired or were inspired by particular paintings of this period. Prints made during the First World War and under the Weimar Republic include particularly exquisite portraits of prominent men such as the Imperial Chancellor (1915) and composer Richard Strauss (1919).
“Liebermann’s prints are an essential counterpoint to painting within his career, which this collection of prints demonstrates particularly well,” said Louis Marchenso, curator of prints and drawings at the GRI. “Most of the prints are in pristine condition, display a rich range of tonal values and allow us to gauge the evolution of his technique.”

The prints become part of the GRI’s Special Collections, which comprise rare and unique collections in art history and visual culture from around the world, including more than 27,000 prints ranging from the Renaissance to the present. Additionally, the GRI houses letters written by Liebermann between 1914 and 1933.
A strong network of scholarship on Liebermann exists in Los Angeles. A recently published book on Liebermann (Max Liebermann and International Modernism: An Artist’s Career from Empire to Third Reich; Berghahn Books, 2011) was edited by independent scholar Barbara Gaehtgens and Françoise Forster-Hahn (University of California, Riverside), and features essays by Thomas W. Gaehtgens (Getty Research Institute), Timothy Benson (The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and Susan M. King (University of California, Irvine). The J. Paul Getty Museum owns Max Liebermann’s 1878 painting An Old Woman with Cat. In 2006 that painting was included in the survey exhibition Max Liebermann: From Realism to Impressionism organized by the Skirball Cultural Center.

About Max Liebermann
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The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts that includes the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu.
The Getty Research Institute is an operating program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. It serves education in the broadest sense by increasing knowledge and understanding about art and its history through advanced research. The Research Institute provides intellectual leadership through its research, exhibition, and publication programs and provides service to a wide range of scholars worldwide through residencies, fellowships, online resources, and a Research Library. The Research Library - housed in the 201,000-square-foot Research Institute building designed by Richard Meier - is one of the largest art and architecture libraries in the world. The general library collections (secondary sources) include almost 900,000 volumes of books, periodicals, and auction catalogues encompassing the history of Western art and related fields in the humanities. The Research Library’s special collections include rare books, artists’ journals, sketchbooks, architectural drawings and models, photographs, and archival materials.
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