Woodcuts from portfolio Der begeisterte Weg

One of the most potent graphic cycles is the series of wood cut illustrations
by the Dresden Secession artist Constantin von Mitschke-Collande
for the Walter Georg Hartmann's allegorical book
Der Begeisterte Weg ( The Inspired Way; ) Haartmann
tells of a young soldier who experiences the beginnings of the Revolution,
the funeral of Liebknecht, and the outbreak of street violence, during which he was killed.
His spirit does not die; it wanders through revolutionary Germany, observing.
Mitschke-Collande focuses on the religious salvation promissed in hartmann's text.
He combines images from the Crucifixion and the Revelation of St. John
( for instance, the horsemen of the Apocalypse ) to intertwine Expressionists
religious imagery and a message about revolution.
The illustrations are a symbol of the political and spiritual awakening
of the second-generation Expressionists.
They reflect the crossroads that many artists felt they had reached.
Mitschke-Collande's style also reflects that eclecticism of the second generation.

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