Dancer
1913
Medium
color lithograph on wove paper, proof with hand coloring
Dimensions
sheet: 70.7 × 57.3 cm (27 13/16 × 22 9/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Accession Number
2012.92.147
Art Historical Context
Emil Nolde's *Dancer* (1913) is a vibrant color lithograph on wove paper, a proof enhanced with hand coloring that lends each impression a unique, painterly touch. Measuring 70.7 × 57.3 cm, this print exemplifies Nolde's mastery of lithography, a technique that allowed him to layer bold hues directly onto stone for vivid, expressive results. As a proof, it represents an experimental stage in printmaking, where the artist could refine colors by hand—bridging the reproducibility of prints with the intimacy of original works. A leading figure in German Expressionism and associated with the Die B...
About the Artist
Emil Nolde
Emil Nolde, born Hans Emil Hansen on August 7, 1867, near the village of Nolde in what was then Prussian Schleswig (now Denmark), grew up on a farm amid devout Protestant Danish and Frisian peasant parents. The youngest of four brothers, he apprenticed as a woodcarver and illustrator in Flensburg from 1884 to 1891, working in furniture factories before studying at the School of Applied Arts in Kar...