Die Ferngeliebte (Errinerung) Verworfene Platte 1870 - 1920

Curator: This is Max Klinger's "Die Ferngeliebte (Errinerung) Verworfene Platte," created between 1870 and 1920. It's a captivating etching. Editor: Wow, the way she’s framed by those dark, almost menacing trees… it’s incredibly intimate yet also unsettling. A sort of romantic unease washes over me. Curator: Indeed. Klinger’s use of etching masterfully evokes a sense of longing. She’s peering out, yet seemingly trapped. The "Fern Geliebte," the "distant beloved," feels perpetually out of reach. He often used women as symbols for an unattainable longing. Editor: So the trees almost feel like bars then. It’s like a melancholic surveillance, or perhaps she’s both the watcher and the watched. Given the Symbolist movement at play, there's a suggestion of entrapment beyond the physical. Are we to assume these trees could stand for the structures that are meant to hold up the patriarchal nature of early 20th century social constructs? Curator: Absolutely. Klinger, as a key figure in German Expressionism, constantly pushed against boundaries of social convention, hinting at the complex interplay between the internal world and external constraints. Consider the title, a "discarded plate," suggesting this is an image that didn't quite make the cut, burdened by something unseen. Editor: And her hand. The gentle placing on her chest adds so much vulnerability. There is an attempt at intimacy that speaks volumes! Curator: A rejected image bearing longing, love, confinement; there’s a beautiful, tangled sorrow in that sentiment. Thank you for unpacking its nuances. Editor: Thank you. The piece serves as a good example of what to remember in the constant dialogue of history. We see who we've been, as well as what we stand to repeat or resolve.