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[email protected] HRB 118521 Thomas Ganske Deutschland www.hatjecantz.de Reg.-Gericht Hamburg Frank-H. Häger UST-ID-Nr.: DE143580256 Dr. Cristina Steingräber Dr. Thomas P.J. Feinen BIZARRE VISUAL WORLDS FROM A CLASSIC ARTIST EMIL NOLDE’S FASCINATION WITH THE FANTASTICAL Luminous flower gardens, wild seascapes, or intense memories of journeys—all the facets of Emil Nolde’s work seem to have been explored. Yet, there’s one theme that has long been basically neglected: the Expressionist painter’s love of the grotesque. Emil Nolde – The Grotesques is the first publication to reveal Nolde’s relationship to the fantastical. Berlin, April 20, 2017 ― It’s surprising that even though the grotesque is a major thematic area of outstanding significance to Emil Nolde (1867 – 1956), there has never been a monograph about this subject. Emil Nolde – The Gotesque’s more than 130 illustrations of intensely colorful paintings, watercolors, and prints invite readers to discover these previously undervalued motifs from Nolde’s oeuvre. References to this obsession are found not only in his autobiography and many of the painter’s letters—even some of his early works are evidence of his particular interest in the fantastical and the grotesque. “In 1894 he began depicting Alpine peaks in the form of grotesque saws,” confirms Christian Ring, director of the Nolde-Stiftung in Seebüll. These were followed by the Bergriesen (mountain giants), which could have sprung from a book of fairy tales, or his Grotesques, a series of etchings.