Conrad Felixmüller

Conrad Felixmüller (1897-1977) was a central figure in German Expressionism, whose early woodcuts and prints defined the visual rhetoric of the movement’s radical left wing. Born Conrad Felix Müller in Dresden, the artist purposefully adopted the unified professional name Felixmüller. This decisive act of identity construction signaled his readiness to engage in the fraught cultural politics of the Weimar era, where the artist's persona was often considered inseparable from their artistic statement.

While Felixmüller later gained recognition for his emotionally charged paintings, his most profound impact during the height of the avant-garde occurred through his prolific work in printmaking. During his concentrated period of activity, roughly 1917 to 1920, he established himself as a key graphic contributor to Germany’s most influential literary and artistic journals. He contributed prints and illustrated material to at least twelve issues of the landmark periodical Die Aktion, in addition to other key publications like Das Kunstblatt.

The medium of the woodcut provided Felixmüller with the ideal vehicle for his angular, dynamic style. Works such as Head of Londa II (Kopf Londa II), published in Das Kunstblatt in 1918, exhibit the Expressionists’ characteristic fragmentation and emotional intensity, rendered through stark black-and-white contrasts. These powerful Conrad Felixmüller prints were instrumental in disseminating the new visual language to a wide audience.

This dedication to rapid mass distribution through periodicals ensured his immediate relevance and remains a significant aspect of his legacy. His high-quality prints and illustrations are now represented in major collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art. Given the nature of their original publication, many of these foundational early works have since transitioned into the public domain, ensuring widespread and enduring access to the visual force of his revolutionary period.