Gesture and Line: Four Post-War German and Austrian Artists from the Duerckheim Collection

An extraordinary and stunning selection of unique and compelling artworks by four artists from post-war Germany and Austria, complete with a brief overview of each artist's work and career, with an introduction essay by art historians John-Paul Sonard and Michael Semff.

From the 1960s drawing assumed a prominent position in the practice of a rising generation of post-war artists in Germany and Austria. This publication examines works on paper by four artists still comparatively little known in the UK. While Georg Baselitz and Gerhard Richter; household names in German contemporary art; are well known for their large and commanding works; a quieter and more reflective strand is found in the work of Rudi Tröger (b. 1929); Karl Bohrmann (1928-1998) and Carl-Heinz Wegert (1926-2007). Small and intimate in scale; their drawings focus on the abstracted; minimalist figure; the studio interior and landscapes; through a sensitive use of line and a spare; self-effacing gesturalism. By contrast; the Austrian actionist Hermann Nitsch (1938-2022) presents visceral depictions of the human anatomy in his large lithographs; which come out of his notorious actionist performances. This publication celebrates a second major gift to the British Museum from the German collector Count Christian Duerckheim; whose first gift featured in Germany Divided: Baselitz and his generation; published by the British Museum Press in 2014.