Adam and Eve 1921

Georg Alexander Mathey created this woodcut, entitled Adam and Eve, at some point during his career in Germany. It depicts the biblical figures in the Garden of Eden. But what does it mean to depict this particular scene in post-Impressionist Germany? Well, the image creates meaning through its sharp lines, referencing primitivism and its focus on basic forms. The primitivist style, in which perspective and naturalistic proportions are abandoned, could be seen as a rejection of the traditional art institutions of Germany at the time. One could use archives and exhibition histories of the period to understand how this image might have been received and interpreted by the public. In the end, the meaning of art, even biblical art, is always contingent on its social and institutional context.