BREMEN.- “Beyond the Centre” is the first exhibition worldwide dedicated to the phenomenon of sketches in the margins of prints. The evolution of the sketches on the edges, called by the French term remarques, will be explored through 100 works on display in the exhibition. These detailed and often humorous sketches were created by famous artists such as Eugène Delacroix, Édouard Manet and Käthe Kollwitz. The works on show are artist’s proofs printed in very limited editions, which quickly became sought-after collectibles.

The combination of a pencil and a white, unmarked sheet of paper has always exerted fascination. This also applies to artists confronted with the virgin margins of their printing plates. It is precisely these blank margins that offer artists a scope of possibilities to develop and test spontaneous ideas. The otherwise inconspicuous edges provide latitude for a broad spectrum of curious motifs: Here a herd of wild horses gallops across the paper, there an obelisk is chasing a Pierrot or a cat accompanies a sleigh ride. The strangeness of these humorous scenes distracts the viewer’s gaze from the actual image. It causes it to increasingly drift off to the edges of the paper where the bizarreness of the artist’s ideas entices the eye to linger. The periphery of the page is transformed by these charming sketches from a minor diversion to central subject matter. The otherwise trivial edges are enhanced and thrust into the spotlight.

These sketches on the edges also serve another, more technical purpose. In particular from the eighteenth century onward, they were used to mark artist’s proofs – test prints created by the artist in order to check the motif before the plate went to the printer for the production of a higher quantity edition. Usually the artist would keep these proofs to himself, rather than offering them for sale. In case of the remarques-prints, the artist would add little figures or comments in the margins (Fr. remarques) to mark it as a rarity, a limited edition for a special clientele of print collectors that were eager to get their hands on these works. Since they were issued in smaller numbers than the general edition, they are still sought-after today. Thus, the humorous figures in the margins are also an evidence of their rarity.

The Kunsthalle Bremen is dedicating the first show worldwide to the artistic phenomenon of sketches in the margins of prints. A development of this phenomenon, from its origins in the etchings of the Baroque era to its offshoots in twentieth-century lithographs, will be explored through 100 works on paper from the extensive holdings of the Kupferstichkabinett (Department of Prints and Drawings) of the Kunsthalle Bremen. The exhibition will feature a variety of important works from the Kupferstich-kabinett by artists such as Stefano della Bella, Claude Lorrain, Eugène Delacroix, Édouard Manet, Edvard Munch, Käthe Kollwitz, Georges Braque and Pierre Alechinsky.