Der Mantel (The Coat)
1919
Medium
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
2012.92.623.1-13
Art Historical Context
**Der Mantel (The Coat)**, created by German Expressionist artist Walter Gramatté in 1919, is a captivating bound volume comprising 12 lithographs and one relief print on high-quality laid JW Zanders paper. Measuring a compact 25.8 × 20.4 × 1 cm, this intimate artist's book invites close contemplation, its pages unfolding a narrative centered on the enigmatic theme of a coat. Gramatté, known for his mystical and emotive imagery, produced this work amid the cultural ferment of post-World War I Germany, a time when Expressionism flourished as artists channeled inner turmoil and spiritual quests ...
About the Artist
Walter Gramatté
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...