Scene in the Cafe with the Cripple
1918
Medium
drypoint
Dimensions
sheet: 38.7 × 29 cm (15 1/4 × 11 7/16 in.) plate: 17 × 12.5 cm (6 11/16 × 4 15/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Accession Number
2012.92.242
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the National Gallery of, where Walter Gramatté's *Scene in the Cafe with Cripple* (1918) captures the raw emotional intensity of post-World War I Germany. This intimate drypoint print, measuring just 17 × 12.5 cm on the, reflects Gramatté's Expressionist style. Born in Berlin, the artist drew from influences like Edvard Munch, using distorted forms and stark contrasts to convey inner turmoil and social alienation amid the era's economic hardship and widespread injury from the war. Drypoint, Gramatté's chosen medium, involves scratching directly into a metal plate with a sharp needl...
About the Artist
Walter Gramatté
Walter Gramatté, born Walter Eduard Gramatté on January 8, 1897, in Berlin-Wedding to building manager Otto Gramatté and his wife Katharina, emerged as a poignant voice in German Expressionism despite a tragically brief career. The son of modest parents—described variably as a baker in some accounts—Gramatté volunteered for World War I in 1914 but was largely spared frontline duty due to chronic p...