Struggle, c. 1925

From the early 1920s, the artist Norbertine Bresslern-Roth (1891–1978) devoted herself to polychrome printing. She developed into a true master in the field. The result were impressive prints from up to six color plates. This is also evidenced in the print entitled Kampf. On a first look, the lobster with its long pincers and the tentacled octopus are reminiscent of abstract shapes. The flat color areas and the way she dispenses with spatial illusion are indicative of the artist’s closeness to Viennese Jugendstil. Bresslern-Roth was rather critical of the relationship of animals and humans and of how animals were kept in zoos; other themes that centrally informed her work are birth, motherly love, violent confrontation, hunting sand death.
As a material, linoleum was originally used as a floor covering before it was discovered by artists in the 1860s for use for a printing technique. One characteristic is the grainy-looking surface that is created in the process.

EF, 2021