Spanning a variety of print media including woodcuts, etchings and lithography, the exhibition features images of domestic cats, lions and tigers created by such artists as Max Beckmann, Albrecht Dürer, Eugène Delacroix and Max Klinger.
A highlight of the exhibition is a rare, recently acquired woodcut by Franz Marc titled Tiger. The animal is shown crouching in the wild with its front leg extended, while another tiger is caught in motion in the background. The abstract lines in the vegetation and clouds complement the tigers' positions and coats, unifying their spirits with the natural surroundings.
Marc (German, 1880-1916) was a member of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group of artists active in Munich from 1911 to 1914. Attempting to capture the inseparability of spirit and matter, he often depicted animals in landscapes, recognizing a spiritual purity in wild animals that he found lacking in man. The woodcut is one of the few impressions that Marc himself printed and signed.
Feline Impressions complements the exhibition Untamed Beauty: Tigers in Japanese Art. This spectacular collection of 18 paintings and two woodblock prints dating from the 16th through 20th centuries is on view in Cohen Gallery (313) through September 9, 2007.
Curated by Eric Lutz, assistant curator of prints, drawings and photographs, Feline Impressions will be on view in Gallery 321 through December 2, 2007. -- www.stlouis.art.museum
