Rolf (Emil Rudolf) Nesch (January 7, 1893 – October 27, 1975) was German born, Norwegian

expressionist 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 ...

artist, especially noted for his printmaking.

Career

Nesch was born at

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest town in the district. Within Baden-Württemberg it is th ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

, 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 Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

. 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 ''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 institution is the produc ...

(1912–14). He participated in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

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

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist 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 Expressionism in 20th-century ...

and Edvard Munch. 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 Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen (13 February 1899 – 15 October 1978) was a Norwegian businessman, non-fiction writer, essayist, novelist, playwright and biographer. He was also a track and field athlete and art collector. Background ...

. 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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. 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 printmaking 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 Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

(1967) and Commander (1973). He was awarded the

Prince Eugen Medal The Prince Eugen Medal ( sv, Prins Eugen-medaljen) is a medal conferred by the King of Sweden for "outstanding artistic achievement". The medal was established in 1945 by the then King of Sweden, Gustaf V, in connection with the eightieth birthd ...

(1973). Nesch died in 1975 in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

. The

National Gallery of Norway The National Gallery ( no, Nasjonalgalleriet) is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. , the admission cost is 100 Norwegian kroner. History It was establish ...

owns eleven material pictures, three sculptures as well as other graphic by Rolf Nesch. Nesch-museet opened in 1993 at Ål, where he had lived for twenty-five years.Nesch-museet
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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