Illustration to V. Hofmannsthal, "Andreas"
c. 1944
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
wood engraving [trial proof]
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1950.17.398
Art Historical Context
Imre Reiner's *Illustration to V. Hofmannhal, "Andreas (c. 1944) is a striking wood engraving trial proof, the introspective essence of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's novella *Andreas; oder, die Vereinigung der Dinge* (published posthumously in 1932). The Austrian writer's story explores a young boy's emotional awakening during a summer journey, and Reiner, a Hungarian-born graphic artist exiled in Switzerland amid World War II, brings this intimate narrative to life through his masterful printmaking. Created around 1944, the work reflects the era's turmoil, yet Reiner's precise, modernist style—root...
About the Artist
Imre Reiner
**Imre Reiner** (1900–1987) was a Hungarian-born Swiss painter, graphic artist, typographer, and master illustrator whose multifaceted career bridged sculpture, experimental typography, and exquisite wood engravings. Born on August 18, 1900, in Versec (now Vršac, Serbia) to a Jewish family—his father a sculptor and stone carver who apprenticed him young—Reiner began formal studies at age 15 in scu...