Neo Rauch: Blätterrausch

Neo Rauch in the studio

Neo Rauch: Blätterrausch

“Leaves or paper rustling” is one among several translations of the German phrase Blätterrausch—a fitting, poetic descriptor for this collection of prints by renowned German artist Neo Rauch. Rauch is highly regarded for his work as a distinguished painter, whose figurative imagery and surrealist abstraction mine personal histories, romantic allegories, and familiar yet imaginary settings, in which scale is often arbitrary. There are rich conversational moments between the artist’s prints and paintings, wherein certain pieces depict time at a standstill, but the prints themselves are hardly preliminary works, nor simply imitative sketches of his paintings. The complete spectrum of Rauch’s print work has been labored over for more than two decades, realized in collagraph and giclée print as well as engraving, lithography, and silkscreen.

Color fields and enigmatic pictorial landscapes are drawn from the surroundings of his print studio in Leipzig, where he works with a master lithographer to achieve his prints. The muted palette of his multicolored lithography adds to the atmospheric motif, in which backdrops of barren architecture and foliage surround hybrid characters in strained or leisurely activity. Each singular charade suggests a mythic theater of simple, communal living. These intricate lithographs are created by either brushing or etching into stone, before the surface is coated in a solution that allows the ink to better penetrate it. Multiple colors are then reproduced through a careful series of “color runs.” One inked stone is required for each color, attaining the painterly effect of watercolors or gouaches.

“By superimposing the various color states, you can achieve lovely velvety depths. This in general is what fascinates me about lithography. That it’s actually a very painterly medium.” —Neo Rauch, as quoted in the exhibition catalogue Rosa Loy, Neo Rauch: Die Strickerin/The Knitter (2018)

This selection of prints is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Neo Rauch: Propaganda, at David Zwirner in Hong Kong, on view through May 4, 2019. Propaganda (2019), a single-color lithograph print, complements the painting of the same moniker, featured in the artist’s exhibition in Hong Kong. While varied in composition, the painting and the print share particular visual elements and personae. Other works have been made available from Rauch’s print studio exclusively for this Viewing Room.

Images: Neo Rauch in the Lithographisches Atelier Leipzig, 2019. Photos by Uwe Walter

A print by Neo Rauch titled Propoganda, dated 2019

Neo Rauch

Propaganda, 2019
Single-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
14 x 17 1/4 inches (35.6 x 43.8 cm)

Rauch’s single-color lithograph print, titled Propaganda (2019), complements the painting and exhibition of the same title, on view at David Zwirner in Hong Kong through May 4, 2019. While varied in composition, the painting and the print share particular visual elements and personae.

Neo Rauch: Propaganda marks the artist's debut solo presentation in Asia and will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring a short story by novelist and playwright Daniel Kehlmann.

Neo Rauch in his studio
Neo Rauch in his studio, 2019. Photo by Uwe Walter.
Neo Rauch in his studio, 2019. Photo by Uwe Walter.
Neo Rauch's painting, Propoganda (2019), featured in his studio.
Neo Rauch's painting, Propoganda (2019), featured in his studio.
A detail from the corresponding print by Neo Rauch, Propoganda, dated 2019.
A detail from the corresponding print by Neo Rauch, Propoganda, dated 2019.
A print by Neo Rauch titled das Blat, dated 2019

Neo Rauch

das Blatt, 2019
Five-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper

16 7/8 x 12 3/4 inches (42.9 x 32.4 cm)   

Edition of 35

Printed by Lithographisches Atelier Leipzig. Signed, titled, numbered, and dated recto

A print by Neo Rauch titled blinder Türmer, dated 2019

Neo Rauch

blinder Türmer, 2019
Three-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper

11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches (29.2 x 36.8 cm)

Edition of 35

Printed by Lithographisches Atelier Leipzig. Signed, titled, numbered, and dated recto

“The processes that lead to satisfying results, both in painting and in printing, are actually very similar. Nevertheless my respect for print media is much more pronounced than my respect for the canvas.”
—Neo Rauch

Lithography stones in Neo Rauch's studio
Lithography stones in Neo Rauch's studio
Lithography stones in Neo Rauch's studio
Lithography stones in Neo Rauch's studio
Lithography stones in Neo Rauch's studio
A print by Neo Rauch titled Guß, dated 2015

Neo Rauch

Guß, 2015
Six-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
21 5/8 x 29 1/8 inches (55 x 74 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch titled Osterfeuer, dated 2015

Neo Rauch

Osterfeuer, 2015
Six-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
29 1/2 x 21 5/8 inches (75 x 55 cm)

“If you bring yourself to make an edition of thirty prints, then that’s accompanied by a claim—mostly unacknowledged—that it’s worth being duplicated.”

 

—Neo Rauch

A print by Neo Rauch titled Lichtbringerinnen, dated 2012

Neo Rauch

Lichtbringerinnen, 2012
Three-color lithograph and chalk on Hahnemühle Lanaroyal paper
21 1/8 x 29 1/2 inches (53.7 x 74.9 cm)
Neo Rauch paints on lithograph

“When I press that piece of lithography chalk onto the surface of the stone, I have the feeling: now it's happening.”


—Neo Rauch

Neo Rauch Studio
A print by Neo Rauch titled Hofgesellschaft, dated 2015

Neo Rauch

Hofgesellschaft, 2015
Monochrome lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
13 5/8 x 9 7/8 inches (34.5 x 25 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch titled, Erdreich, dated 2013

Neo Rauch

Erdreich, 2013
Two-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
20 3/8 x 16 1/4 inches (51.8 x 41.3 cm)
Studio closeup
A print by Neo Rauch titled Einsatz, dated 2013

Neo Rauch

Einsatz, 2013
Three-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
27 5/8 x 19 3/4 inches (70.2 x 50.2 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch titled Das Lichtlein, dated 2017

Neo Rauch

Das Lichtlein, 2017
Two-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
16 x 12 5/8 inches (40.5 x 32 cm)
Studio closeup
A print by Neo Rauch titled Toma, dated 2018

Neo Rauch

Toma, 2018
Five-color lithograph on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
23 3/4 x 31 inches (60.3 x 78.7 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch titled Kingo, dated 2017

Neo Rauch

Kingo, 2017
Six-color lithograph print on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
32 x 23 1/2 inches (81.2 x 59.5 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch titled Schilfer, dated 2017

Schilfer, 2017
Six-color lithograph and chalk on Hahnemühle Alt Worms paper
31 1/8 x 23 3/8 inches (79.1 x 59.4 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch titled Zeiger, dated 2017

Neo Rauch

Zeiger, 2017
Single-color lithograph on Römerturm museumcard paper
11 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches (28.6 x 21.5 cm)
Neo Rauch in his studio
A print by Neo Rauch titled Die Herrin, dated 2018

Neo Rauch

Die Herrin, 2018
Monochrome etching on Zerkall Alt Bern paper
17 3/8 x 12 3/4 inches (44.1 x 32.4 cm)
A print by Neo Rauch, titled Dickicht, dated 2018.

Neo Rauch

Dickicht, 2018
Single-color lithograph on Römerturm museumcard paper
13 3/8 x 10 3/8 inches (34 x 26.5 cm)
Exterior view of Neo Rauch's print studio

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