The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Ludwig Meidner

by Carol S. Eliel, Eberhard Roters

Book by Carol S. Eliel, Eberhard Roters

Genres: Art

103 pages, Paperback

Published December 30, 1999

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though German painter (and poet) Ludwig Meidner is actually considered by a number of Expressionism experts (of both artistic and literary Expressionism) as one of the most important and to an extent even influential artists of that era (and especially of the time period immediately prior to and post World War I), he is now unfortunately also one of the generally least publicly known (as many of us, even if not experts on German Expressionism, are at least aware of and have perhaps even visited exhibitions of works by Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and of course especially Franz Marc, but this definitely is rather rare with regard to Ludwig Meidner and his artistic oeuvre). And in that way, Ludwig Meidner actually very much resembles his close friend, author Paul Zech (well known and quite extensively read during the pre war years and the Weimar Republic, but now relatively forgotten, except perhaps for some of his poetry). Furthermore and interestingly enough, it was indeed my research on the latter (on Paul Zech) for my PhD dissertation which in fact led me to Ludwig Meidner and his awe inspiring, destructively beautiful dystopian landscapes in the first place (as I originally found The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Ludwig Meidner in the book stacks of the University of Waterloo Dana Porter Library and much later decided to purchase my own personal copy, as I simply do very much love and appreciate Ludwig Meidner's artwork, especially his intensity of expression and style).

Now The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Ludwig Meidner not only meticulously examines Meidner's often terror-laden visual landscapes and urban visions (many of which appear as glossy colour images within the text proper), the two informative analyses (by Carol S. Eliel and Eberhard Roters) interpret not only the images featured, but Meidner's life and work, how for example, Meidner's apocalyptic landscapes and visions might have been influenced by the Italian Futurists, but how unlike the Futurists (who promoted and feted destruction, war and chaos as cleansing and culturally positive), Meidner's landscapes as well as his poetry, ALWAYS show dystopia, chaos and war as inherently dangerous (aggression is shown as always potentially problematic, and while Meidner's visions of destruction might also sport and present a certain vitality, they are never ecstatic, never positive, and generally infused with an intensely critical negativity).

And indeed, even the modern metropolis, which the Futurists almost seemed to literally worship (and which some if not actually many German Expressionists also emulated, at least in the beginning, at least prior to the destruction and carnage of WWI and its aftermath), is presented by Ludwig Meidner for the most part (and from square one so too speak) as negative, as uncanny, as threateningly dehumanising. And yes, this is also and yet again reflected in and by Paul Zech's literary oeuvre, and I was and still remain in awe at just how closely Zech and Meidner reflect one another, how Meidner's artistic visuals of destruction, of chaos, of dehumanising modern life, of the military machine, are so often with frightening realism and intense similarity mirrored by and in Paul Zech's poetry and prose. Very highly recommended (and if you are at all interested in or intrigued by either literary or artistic German Expressionism, or actually both, The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Ludwig Meidner is most definitely to be strongly considered, although it is not in current print and thus not always all that easily and readily available).