ALEXANDER BARANOWSKY (1874-1941) GROSSE KUNSTAUSSTELLUNG / DRESDEN. 1908. 36x23 1/2 inches, 91 1/2x60 cm. Oswald Enterlein Kunstanstalt, Niedersedlitz. Condition B+ / B: staining and creases in margins and image; restoration on verso; metal strips for hanging affixed to verso. Paper. Baranowsky was a professor at the Decorative Arts School in Dresden and also worked in local theatre. This is one of only three posters he is known to have designed. Advertising an art exhibition, it is an unusually sexual image from a time when German art cherished innocent allegories. The blonde, nude with the exception of her necklace representing the coat-of-arms of Sachsen, is ornamentally posed with a sprig of leaves in each hand. She is seated against an ornately patterned background, and draped in an equally opulent, colorful and modern textile, yet the disinterested look on her face is discordant with the luxury of her surroundings. The classic typography is grouped at the bottom of the poster. Wember 10, DFP-III 38.
