Illustration to Voltaire, "Candide"
published 1950
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
1950.17.438
Art Historical Context
Imre Reiner'sIllustration to Voltaire, "Candide"*, a wood engraving trial proof published in 1950, captures the spirit of Voltaire's 1759 novella, which skewers blind optimism amid human folly and catastrophe. This print, part of the National Gallery of Art's esteemed Rosenwald Collection, reflects Reiner's mastery as a 20th-century engraver blending precision with expressive linework. As a Hungarian-born artist who worked in Britain, Reiner to the revival of book illustration during a postwar era when classics like *Candide* resonated anew, echoing the disillusionment of world wars and upheav...
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...