This text appears in the bilingual catalogue (Portuguese/ German) for the “Exposição Alemã de Livros e Artes Gráficas na América do Sul” exhibition, held in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and organized by gallerist Theodor Heuberger. The show intended to offer a panorama of contemporary art in Germany that highlighted drawing and engraving from those trends that, according to Kuhn, were the “most important” of the 1930s. He brought together works by forty artists then active in Germany; the selection included Max Liebermann’s realism, Georg Schrimpf’s Neue Sachlichkeit [New Objectivity], the idealism of Käthe Kollwitz, the fantastic images of Max Slevogt, as well as the Expressionist visions of Otto Dix, George Gross and Hans Meid.

In his text for the catalogue, Alfred Kuhn traces a brief panorama of German art during the 1930s, which was marked by the prior Expressionism movement. In the author’s opinion “keeping in mind the significance that Expressionism had during turbulent times  and pondering post-Expressionist art (with respect to our future), we should recognize that these [artists] offered more clarity, more serenity, more objectivity, more fruitfulness and a wider vision that was capable of communicating a European spirit in all its senses.” For Kuhn, engraving was, in general, “something genuinely German” in the same way that the “Nordic artists” showed “a tendency toward line” and drawing. He defended engraving and “similar pursuits” because for him they represented “a true reflection of the spirit of the times.” Theodor Heuberger, the organizer of the exhibition, was known for his promotion of German art in Brazil, especially with regard to Expressionist art. “Exposição Alemã de Livros e Artes Gráficas na América do Sul” was undoubtedly an important initiative, above all due to the diversity of artists featured.

[Also see in the ICAA Digital Archive the catalogue for the 3º Salão da Pro Arte, in Rio de Janeiro, 1933 (doc. no. 785228)].