Rolf Nesch

Rolf Nesch (1893-1975) was a virtuoso graphic artist - his development of metal printing and its transformation into relief-like material images has made him unforgettable.Hamburg bridges, life in St. Pauli, herring fishing in the Lofoten Islands, insights into Norwegian theatre and mythical creatures - we encounter all of this in Rolf Nesch's work. At the end of the 1920s, the Oberesslinger developed metal printing: he etched printing plates, worked with movable elements, soldered metal nets and perforated wire onto the printing plates, through which the laid paper rose during printing. His artistic success in Hamburg was interrupted when the National Socialists came to power, and he left his home country for Norway as early as 1933. There he produced numerous metal prints and material pictures. Nesch was granted Norwegian citizenship in 1946 and to this day has a firm place in the canon of Norwegian art history. The Hamburg collector Klaus Friedrich Meyer owns the largest Nesch collection outside Norway with around 150 works. The art historian Ina Hildburg-Schneider introduces readers to Nesch's life, work and technique and takes a special look at the impressive material paintings, which have received little attention to date.