Standing Nude 1919 - 1920

Editor: This is Max Weber’s “Standing Nude,” created sometime between 1919 and 1920. It's a woodcut print. The bold lines and simplified forms give it an interesting, almost raw quality. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: I see a conscious emphasis on the labor involved in its production. The woodcut medium, with its deliberate carving and impression, makes the hand of the artist and the means of its production exceptionally evident, don't you agree? Editor: Yes, absolutely. It’s very tactile in a way. The lines definitely guide your eye, but also remind you of the physical effort to create it. How would the time in which it was made inform our understanding of it? Curator: Considering it was made between 1919 and 1920, amidst post-war realities, it’s crucial to acknowledge the potential anxieties and societal shifts. Was this piece perhaps also responding to industrialization? Weber seems less concerned with capturing a specific likeness, than with using the print to explore form. What do you think he’s doing here with the tradition of the nude? Editor: Perhaps using the form as a site of production rather than merely representing beauty? I'd have never considered it that way. Curator: Exactly. We have to look at how art, including something as seemingly timeless as a nude, participates in material processes and relates to contemporary life and modes of making. Editor: That’s fascinating, how looking at the materiality and means of production provides a way to connect art with the wider world! Curator: Indeed. By examining the material conditions surrounding its creation, we gain a deeper understanding of its cultural value and the role it plays within society.