until Sunday January 10 2016

Albertina
T : +43 (0)1 534 83-0
Albertinaplatz 1
1010 Wien
Austria

A FRIENDSHIP OF ARTISTS

“Of all the illustrators today, I have a great appreciation for you,” Alfred Kubin once wrote to Lyonel Feininger on 25 November 1912. After the two had exchanged drawings with each other, they began an intense exchange of letters, which is published for the first time over the course of this exhibition and reveals compelling insights into the respective world of ideas they each inhabited.

In addition to Feininger’s drawings from Kubin’s estate, the Albertina also has a remarkable inventory of illustrations and print graphics by Kubin, whose work - rife with grim and sombre symbolism - remains captivating to this day. Starting with Kubin’s early drawings and the commercial caricatures by Feininger, this exhibition traces the artistic path that each set upon - paths that crossed through their shared correspondence as “soul mates”, but would eventually branch out into very different directions: Kubin, who resided in Zwickledt (Upper Austria), put the focus of his work on the illustration of literature, whereas Feininger, the master of Bauhaus, discovered painting for himself.