{"id":11109,"date":"2020-09-09T22:58:37","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T20:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www1.af-kulturstiftung.de\/werk-des-quartals-01-2019\/"},"modified":"2023-10-12T11:03:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T09:03:25","slug":"work-of-the-quarter-01-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.af-kulturstiftung.de\/wordpress\/en\/work-of-the-quarter-01-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Work of the quarter 01.2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Andreas Felger, Summer, 1974<\/div>
Wood print on paper, 89 x 65 cm \u00a9 AFKS<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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SUMMER
\n1974
\nWOOD PRINT ON PAPER
\n89 x 65 cm<\/h5>\n

This woodcut from 1974, one of Andreas Felger’s earliest free artistic works, fascinates me in its simplicity: it is composed in three rows of lines and printed in only one colour – a summery golden yellow. The dynamically stacked arrangement of the waving ripe ears of corn suggests the spatial expanse of the cornfield and visualises the abundance of the impending harvest. The graphic style indicates that the artist was working as a textile designer at the time.<\/p>\n

The sheet reminds me of the poem “Moonlight Night” by Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff:<\/p>\n

It was as if heaven
\nKissed the earth silently,
\nThat in the glimmer of blossoms
\nNow must dream of him.<\/p>\n

The air passed through the fields,
\nThe ears of corn waved gently,
\nThe woods rustled softly,
\nSo starlit was the night.<\/p>\n

And my soul expanded
\nIts wings wide,
\nFlew through the silent land
\nAs if it were flying home.<\/p>\n

Like the woodcut, the poem refers to the elements: the wind, the surging sea, the fertile earth and the ears of corn striving towards the sun. Another comparable element is added by the allusion in both works to eternal life: Eichendorff refers in the last verse with the flight to the return of the soul home, to heaven. In Christian symbolism, ears of wheat refer to the comparison of the dying grain of wheat with the death of Jesus: “If the grain of wheat does not fall into the earth and die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it: and he that hateth his life in this world shall have it unto life eternal.” (John 12:24-26)<\/p>\n

Text by Esther Stenkamp<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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