Prints artworks

The large collection of print artworks from the early 1800s is evidence of the extraordinary artistic legacy of Beethoven the Myth. This collection covers many themes, first of which is the composer himself. It includes some very interesting artistic interpretations of his works, and of the places and houses he lived in or visited. There is a vast assortment of iconographic material on people who knew Beethoven. A large number of fascinating historical and modern posters are also in the collection.

The production of graphic art in 19th and 20th centuries aimed to meet the high demand for works of art from the new middle classes, through limited runs of prints of authentic masterpieces. Numerous techniques were and are used: engraving (on metal plates), lithography (on stone), wood engraving. The process involved in each is generally the same as in engraving described below.

Engraving on metal plate 
The artist traces the drawing onto a metal, usually copper, plate covered with a layer of wax. The surface is scratched using a steel needle, which removes the wax and exposes the metal. The plate is then dipped in acid, which corrodes the unprotected metal in the scratched recesses of the lines that make up the drawing on the surface. After the plate is lifted from the acid, the wax is removed and the incised lines are ready for inking. The plate is then pressed (using a press) against paper to produce the final image. 

zoom_in PAUL BARFUS (sculpsit), *Nuremberg, 17 August 1923 – †Munich, 24 March 1895. FRITZ SCHWÖRER (inventor), *Weil am Rhein, 9 January 1833 – †Munich, 25 March 1891.
Original steel engraving for the Centenary of Beethoven’s Birth, Munich, 1870. zoom_in CAREL LODEWIJK DAKE, *Amsterdam, 1857 – †Amsterdam, 1918.
Original etching, Brussels, 1889. This is the start of the period in which Beethoven’s image was given sacred status. zoom_in DUTERTRE VICTOR, *Thilouze, 1850 – †Clermont, 1937.
EVOCATION DE BEETHOVEN d'apres L.[ucien] Levy Dhurmer, original woodcut, signed in pencil by the artist, Paris, 1908. zoom_in LUDWIG MICHALEK, *Temeswar (Timisoara), 13 April 1859 – †Vienna, 24 September 1942. Mutli-award–winning Romanian, naturalised Austrian artist. A street in Vienna has been named after him.
Beethoven improvises at the piano, original etching and aquatint on copper, signed in pencil by the author, Vienna, 1927. zoom_in EMIL ORLIK, Bohemian painter, graphic artist and photographer, *Prague, 21 July 1870 – †Berlin, 28 September 1932.
Ludwig van Beethoven, original etching and aquatint, signed by the author, Germany, 1926.
Emil Orlik, along with Gustav Klimt, Carl Moll, Otto Wagner, Max Klinger, Kolo Moser and many others, took part in the great Beethoven Exhibition in the Vienna Secession building in 1902. zoom_in KARL WILHELM WENZEL, *Ibbenbüren, 27 February 1887 - †Ibbenbüren, 27 February 1947, German painter and one of the leading artists in the Kevelaer set.
Beethoven, original etching on thick paper, signed in pencil by the artist, 1927. zoom_in EDUARDO ARROYO, *Madrid, 26 February 1937, †Madrid, 10 April 2018.
Lithograph on thick paper. Signed and dated by the author on the original, 1992.
Arroyo represents continuity of the 1930s avant-garde influenced by Spanish artists, including Picasso and Miró. In this original work, the portrait is partially outlined by musical notes.