New York
1983
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color woodcut on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 24.8 x 18.9 cm (9 3/4 x 7 7/16 in.) sheet: 32.4 x 24.7 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Jacob Kainen
Accession Number
2002.98.99
Art Historical Context
Werner Drewes' *New York* (1983) is a vibrant color woodcut on wove paper, capturing essence of the bustling metropolis through abstracted forms. Measuring a compact 24.8 x 18.9 cm for the image and 32.4 x 24.7 cm for the sheet, this intimate print invites close viewing, revealing the artist's mastery of layered colors and dynamic shapes that evoke skyscrapers, lights, and urban energy. Drewes, a German-American printmaker1899–1985), bridged European modernism and American abstraction, having studied at the Bauhaus and immersed himself in New York's art scene after emigrating in 1930. By 1983...
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...