Recent German Graphic Art

This exhibition of German lithographs, etchings, woodcuts and monotypes was toured by the West German Government. Unusually the works were for sale and 31 orders were taken. The Robert McDougall Gallery itself bought seven and the Canterbury Public Library bought ten. This was 1955 and the New Zealand Government charged 55% import duty on each purchase.

At the opening, the West German Minister in New Zealand, Dr. Erich Boltze spoke of the need for Germany to renew itself politically and intellectually through the work of poets, thinkers and artists. This exhibition was proof, he said, of the intellectual hunger felt by many in West Germany following the disasters of Nazism, war and division.