Gerhardt Sy

Gerhardt Sy

(1886-1936)

German painter and printmaker.

Last week the occasion to research an interesting artist arose from Ebay. Two interesting monochrome woodblock prints came up together. Here's a summary of  what I've found:

I'd never heard of Gerhardt Sy before. Sadly, other then some very nice examples scraped from auction sites and the years of the beginning and ending of his 50 years on the planet nothing turned up. Readers are invited to add and send information because looking at these few examples of his work he definitly deserves some more attention.

The print showing a circular theater performance is quite charming and the light used in a way Rembrandt certainly would approve with a smile. The colourful children singing around the church organ is also very desirable. The gruff face looking so directly at me, the hidden face of the woman, the gloomy room with iconic lamp, well ........it's making me think: a selfportrait, his parents, childhood memories ?  What a great portrait, what an intrigueing  print. 

Looking closer at these prints again I think I maybe should have tried a bit harder bidding. But although living in the more prosperous parts of the €-zone financing a luxury and afterall a hobby lately is affected by irresponsible money grabbing bankers and self imposed, pompous but hopelesly incompetent "investors" of entrusted community and pension deposits. 

"O fortunatas nimium, sua si bona norint, / agricolas!"