Reaching the stars
1922
Medium
colour lithograph and gold leaf on Japanese paper
Measurements
42.2 × 33.3 cm (image) 54.6 × 37.4 cm irreg. (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Lady Grounds, Fellow, 1996
© Courtesy of the artist's estate
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
This lithograph is Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack’s most significant print from his early years at the Bauhaus, where he studied under Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger. The work reflects the spirit of utopian idealism upon which the Bauhaus was founded, with the stars symbolising hope for the future in the age of modernity. Hirschfeld Mack’s artistic career in Germany was cut short when the National Socialists came to power, and he fled to England in 1936. In 1940 he was deported to Australia along with many other German artists and intellectuals. Hirschfeld Mack was released from internment in 1942 and appointed art master at Geelong Grammar School, where he continued to champion Bauhaus principles and ideas.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Weimar, Germany
Inscription
inscribed in pencil l.l.: L. H. MACK 1922
Accession Number
1996.452
Departments
International Prints / International Prints and Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest
Physical description
This beautiful work is made up of a series of angular and curved shapes and lines in gold, dark and light blue, black and pink, suggestive of a figure standing on an orb, the earth, with upper body and outstretched arms contained within another series of circles, or planetary stars. The artist explores formal and rhythmic relationships through geometric abstraction, differing surface textures and colour.