The Snite Museum of Art put on view a new exhibition, Lines Etched with the Weight of Life: Georges Rouault’s Miserere, on January 13, 2013. This haunting series of 58 sheets, whose title “Have mercy on me, O God” is taken from Psalm 51, is considered a monument in twentieth-century printmaking. This is the first time the series, described as a powerful lamentation of the human condition, has been presented in its entirety.
Considered a monument of twentieth-century printmaking, Georges Rouault’s Miserere, a series of large-scale prints produced using innovative graphic techniques, presents visitors with one of the greatest modernist interpretations of religious iconography. Rouault responded to the ravages of World War I by creating aggressive, sparse, and grand compositions, which attain a pitch of tragedy and salvation rarely achieved by his contemporaries.
The exhibition will run from January 13 through March 10, 2013.
The public is invited to a reception on Sunday, February 10, 2013, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The Miserere series on display was the generous gift of Mr. Leonard Scheller. Research assistance was provided by Kirsten Appleyard, M.A. ’11.