Salome. by Max Brüning, 1887-1968

Max Brüning, 1887-1968
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Salome.

Original etching with softground, roulette, carborundum rubbing and aquatint, printed in black, grey and red (on the lips) and overprinted from a relief block in blue, green, brown and gold, then overworked with white chalk by hand. 1910. Signed in pencil. Inscribed lower left sheet corner: 'Original-Radierung Salome Op.110'. Exceptionally rare, probably unique impression.

Superb rich impression with sparkling fresh overprinted colours and gold. On stiff cream wove paper. Generally excellent condition; the print surface absolutely excellent with the hand-added white chalk and surface unrubbed; a few very minor traces of time soiling at the extreme outer edges of the sheet. Full margins. Sheet:18 1/8 x 15 3/4ins. Plate octagonal - diameter 11 1/2-11 5/8ins.(292-296mm)

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An absolutely extraordinary, hauntingly beautiful piece of printmaking, with the most brilliantly inventive and creative use of techniques, treated in a manner which reflects the influences of Symbolism, Art Nouveau and the stylisation of the approaching ?Deco? movement.

The basic image is created in a mixture of etching, softground, roulette and carborundum rubbing on the plate surface, printed with the highlights wiped clean and the imagery in tones of black, grey, and red on the lips, printed in a single pull. The plate was then overprinted with a relief block to create the pattern of blue with sparkling old, and the brown with ?jewels? of emerald green on the headband. Finally the hair and neck are given highlights with a delicate hand application of white chalk. It is a tour-de-force of printmaking.

Brüning was a painter and printmaker who played an important role in the development of the symbolist/Art Nouveau style in Southern Germany just after the turn of the century. He studied under Alois Kolb, then after travelling through south-eastern Europe and Turkey, and spending a prolonged stay in Constantinople, he returned to Monaco to work with Franz von Stuck up until the First War. The post First War years he spent in Berlin and then Lindau, but it was the period up to 1914 which formed his style and the time of his most creative achievements.