Globe art critic Peter Grant says "welcome back" to Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, which has opened its doors with a poignant and powerful touring exhibition.

 

PICASSO, Munch, Goya and Schiel are seen alongside leading German artists in Lady Lever’s latest exhibition - German Revolution Expressionist Prints.

A celebration of the German tradition of graphic and printmaking.

This extraordinary display was previously staged at The Huntarian, University of Glasgow, and features German artists such as Kathe Kollwitz, Max Beckman, Kark Schmidt-Rottluff, Erich Heckel and Otto Dix.

The German 'Revolution' of the title refers to two revolutions: political unrest and the revolution in art.

Originally postponed due to Covid-19, this beautifully-curated exhibition explores how the social, political, sexual and moral struggles took place when one war ended and another began during the turbulent period of the German Revolution (1918-1919).

The events moved certain artists to produce such powerful and dramatic imagery.

In three sections it features works by some of the most influential artiists of the 20th century including Picasso and Munch, this inspirational group of radical and diverse works looks at the very real responses artists had to the violence and anarchy of civil war.

Some were a bid to escape the unrelenting, turbulent, heart-felt turmoil of the revolution, while others are vivid, stark and powerful statements - desperate cries for change.

These 40 images are timeless works - capturing a universal power that are capable - a century on - to stir our emotions.

On the walls you will see and feel grief, despair hunger yet hope and love.

Stellar Exhibition: Five stars

German Revolution Expressionist Prints is at the Lady Lever Art Gallery until February 2021. 

Tickets and further details from www.liverpoolmuseums.orhg.uk/germanrevolution