Rolf (Emil Rudolf) Nesch (January 7, 1893 – October 27, 1975) was a German-born Norwegian expressionist artist, especially noted for his

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

Career

Nesch was born at

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor''; until 16 October 1964 officially '' Eßlingen am Neckar'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the Esslingen (district), Distri ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany. He was the son of August Nesch (1867–1922) and Emilie Langbein (1869–1944). Nesch grew up in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. He studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (1908–12) and

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German language, German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institutio ...

(1912–14). He participated in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

led him to British captivity (1917–19). In the following years, he lived in Dresden, partly in Berlin and in the hometown of Esslingen. In 1929 he settled in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

to continue his artistic career. Nesch worked in parallel with painting and graphics. He was influenced by

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in general, especially

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist Painting, painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expr ...

and

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

. Upon the Nazi takeover in Germany in 1933, Nesch repatriated to Norway. An established artist in Germany, he found the initial period in Norway to be difficult. After a few years, the situation improved and he found support from, among others, Pola Gauguin and Rolf Stenersen. Nesch became a Norwegian citizen in the fall of 1946. In 1950, he married actress Ragnhild Hald (1896-1975) in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After moving to Norway, Nesch focused on sculptures besides graphics. Nesch had a large production of art which included graphics, material images, painting, sculpture and drawings. Nesch found a suitable medium in metal pressure technology. Apart from drawing, which was his natural tool and means of expression throughout, it was

he devoted himself to most continuously and over the greatest number of years. And it is as printmaker that Rolf Nesch made his most significant contribution, not merely as a technical innovator who discovered the potential in new materials and methods, but also from the artistic point of view. He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (1967) and Commander (1973). He was awarded the Prince Eugen Medal (1973). Nesch died in 1975 in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. The

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery () is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. History It was established in 1842 following a parliamentary decision from 1836. Originally lo ...

owns eleven material pictures, three sculptures as well as other graphic by Rolf Nesch. Nesch-museet opened in 1993 at

Ål Ål is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The par ...

, where he had lived for twenty-five years.Nesch-museet
/ref>

References

External links

Rolf Nesch Website

Other sources

*Helliesen, Sidsel and Bodil Sørensen (2009)
''Rolf Nesch: The Complete Graphic Works''
(Skira Rizzoli Publishing; Milano) *Kristiansen, Runar (1998
''Edvard Munch, Nikolai Astrup, Rolf Nesch, Ludvig Eikaas''
(Skei i Jølster : Jølster kommune)

Career

References

External links

Other sources

Further reading