HANS BALUSCHEK (1870-1935) AUSSTELLUNG HANS BALUSCHEK. Circa 1910. 26 3/4x37 1/4 inches. Hollerbaum & Schmidt. Condition B+: restoration and repaired tears in top margin; staining in top of image. Hans Baluschek was a founding member of the Berlin Secession<> and of the Deutscher Künstlerbund<>. He was an illustrator who, like Heinrich Zille or Kaethe Kollwitz, drew inspiration in the life of the Berliner working classes. His style was that of "social critical realism", focusing on the misery in industrial and suburban areas. In the 1920s he was a member of the SPD (the Social-Democratic Party) and drew caricatures in the party's newspapers. In 1933 he lost his job when he was proclaimed a "degenerate artist" by the Nazi Party. Here, for an exhibition held before 1910, we have a good example of this social-realistic style. The image is reminiscent of Lucien Metivet's poster for Eugenie Buffet<>, 1893, which features the performer trudging through the snow. DFP III, 36.
