Intermezzo (from the series A Love)

Art Historical Context

Max Klinger’s *Intermezzo* belongs to his celebrated print cycle *A Love* (Eine Liebe), a series of ten etchings and engravings that traces the emotional arc of romantic passion. Created between 1887 and 1903, the work reflects the Symbolist movement’s interest in inner experience, desire, and the psychological dimensions of love. Klinger, a German artist renowned for his technically ambitious printmaking, used the medium to blend realistic detail with dreamlike narrative, inviting viewers to contemplate both the tenderness and tension inherent in human relationships. The plate’s refined etching and engraving technique—here in its eighth state—allowed Klinger to achieve delicate tonal gradations and crisp linear definition, especially effective for rendering the male nude forms noted in the work. These figures underscore the series’ frank exploration of the body as both subject and symbol. Printed by Wilhelm Felsing, the impression now in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection exemplifies the high craftsmanship of late-nineteenth-century reproductive printmaking. Acquired as a gift in 1952, *Intermezzo* offers today’s visitors an intimate glimpse into Klinger’s vision of love as a profound, often ambivalent human drama.

About the Artist

Wilhelm Felsing|Max Klinger (German| ) · 1857 | –1920 |

German, Leipzig 1857–1920 Großjena|