Description

This almanac gathers a handful of the most striking remarks that leading artists and critics contributed to a Berlin‑based art journal in the first decade of the twentieth century. Rather than offering a systematic history, it presents a lively collage of personal memories, passionate defenses of technique, and candid observations on peers—everything from a reminiscence of Wilhelm Leibl to Max Liebermann’s thoughts on Manet’s woodcuts. The editor’s introduction frames the collection as a “firework of intellectual sparks,” meant to let the reader hear directly how creators understood their own work.

The volume features a diverse roster of voices: painters such as Alfred Sisley and Jozef Israels, sculptors, writers, and stage designers, each reflecting on subjects ranging from landscape painting to theatrical décor. Interleaved with the essays are reproductions of sketches, woodcuts and studies by the contributors, giving listeners a vivid sense of the visual language they discuss. For anyone curious about the debates and enthusiasm that animated the art world just before modernism fully took hold, this compilation offers an intimate, multi‑faceted glimpse into that vibrant moment.

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