Akaki zeigt dem Schneider die auszubessernden Stellen (Akaki Shows the Tailor the Areas to be Mended) (plate 3) from Der Mantel (The Coat)
1919
Medium
lithograph from a bound volume with 12 lithographs and one relief print on laid JW Zanders paper
Dimensions
book: 25.8 × 20.4 × 1 cm (10 3/16 × 8 1/16 × 3/8 in.)
Classification
Volume
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Accession Number
2012.92.623.4
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
**Discovering Walter Gramatté's "Akaki Shows the Tailor the Areas to be Mended"** This poignant lithograph, plate 3 from Walter Gramatté's1919 bound volume *Der Mantel (The Coat)*, draws inspiration from Nikolai Gogol's classic 1842 novella *The Overcoat*. It depicts the humble protagonist Akaky Akakievich presenting his threadbare coat to a tailor for repairs—a pivotal moment symbolizing the story's themes of poverty, longing, and human dignity amid St. Petersburg's harsh bureaucracy. Created just after World War I in Germany, Gramatté's series of 12 lithographs and one relief print captures the era's social anxieties through Expressionist lenses, blending raw emotion with stark social commentary. Printed on high-quality laid JW Zanders paper, the lithograph showcases Gramatté's mastery of the medium, allowing intricate lines and tonal contrasts to convey psychological tension. His style, influenced by German Expressionism, features distorted figures and angular forms that heighten the scene's pathos, echoing contemporaries like Käthe Kollwitz. As part of a rare artist's book (25.8 × 20.4 × 1 cm), it reflects the Weimar Republic's vibrant print culture, where affordable editions democratized art. A gift to the National Gallery of Art from Ruth Cole Kainen, this work highlights Gramatté's brief but brilliant career—he died tragically young at 32—offering visitors a window into early 20th-century Expressionism's humanistic depth.
About the Artist
Walter Gramatté · 1897–1929
Walter Gramatté, born Walter Eduard Gramatté on January 8, 1897, in Berlin-Wedding to building manager Otto Gramatté and his wife Katharina, emerged as a poignant voice in German Expressionism despite a tragically brief career. The son of modest parents—described variably as a baker in some accounts—Gramatté volunteered for World War I in 1914 but was largely spared frontline duty due to chronic p...