82.47 Deer in Woods (Rehkitz)

1917

Woodcut, sheet: 7 x 8 1/2" (17.5 x 21.7 cm); composition: 4 7/8 x 6 3/8" (12.3 x 16.1 cm)

Signed, lr: Seewald

Provenance: Richard Seewald

This small woodcut appears to have been a Christmas greeting from the artist to La Vera Pohl. The greeting under the woodcut read: “Das Reh als Ihr Weihnachtssymbole möge Ihinen ein frohes Fest bringen und vor allem gute Gesundheit im neuen Jahr! Ihr Seewald u. Frau” (May the deer as a Christmas symbol bring you a joyful holiday and especially good health in the new year! Yours, Seewald and wife.) According to Jentsch, the first print of this design appeared in 1917. As with the small woodcuts of Rohfls, Seewald most probably used these woodcuts again and again over the years. As Seewald’s student from 1929 to 1931, Pohl probably received this greeting sometime during the 1930s.

In 1912 and 1913, Seewald frequented the circles of the most political members of the Munich avant-garde, some of whom began a radical biweekly newspaper entitled Revolution. This association led to the inclusion of his woodcut Revolution on the front page of the newspapers first issue in 1913. Seewald used the same style and theme in this image representing a scene of battle that Seewald witnessed while on travels in Corsica–an event which he had no personal involvement.

It tends to substantiate Sailer’s claim that his illustrations for Revolution had little specific political motivation. The themes of revolt and military action simply gave him the opportunity to depict crowds in movement, as well as to record an aspect of contemporary life which preoccupied much of the youth of Seewald’s generation. The style reveals Seewald’s adoption of the most simplified contrasts of fields of black and white.