Composition I - Plant Forms
1934
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut
Dimensions
image: 27.9 × 24.1 cm (11 × 9 1/2 in.) sheet: 37.5 × 27.9 cm (14 3/4 × 11 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams
Accession Number
2008.115.1533
Art Historical Context
**Composition I - Plant Forms**1934) is a striking woodcut by Werner Drewes, a-born artist who bridged European modernism and American printmaking. Created just four years after Drewes emigrated to the United States, this print captures the era's fascination with abstraction during the Great Depression, when artists explored organic forms amid social and economic upheaval. Measuring 27.9 × 24.1 cm (image) on a 37.5 × 27.9 cm sheet, its intimate scale invites close viewing, revealing the tactile boldness of woodcut—a relief printing technique where the artist carves away negative space from a w...
About the Artist
Werner Drewes
Werner Drewes (1899–1985), born in the village of Canig, Germany, to Lutheran pastor Georg Drewes, demonstrated early artistic talent at Saldria Gymnasium, excelling in painting and woodblock printing. Drafted into the German army at eighteen, he served on the Western Front during World War I, finding solace in sketching amid the horrors of war. Postwar, Drewes pursued architecture at the Technisc...