Fallen rider

Intermezzi is a musical term for an interlude played between parts of a song or between the acts of a drama, and Klinger’s use of it is open to interpretation. The prints in this series do not appear to present an identifiable narrative. Rather, Klinger appears to be interested in creating a sense of tension through the associations the imagery evokes in the viewer. The works are united by their depiction of the natural world, which is threatening and domineering. Death is ever-present.

The series includes mythological creatures, as well as the character of Simplicius, from the seventeenth-century German tale by Grimmelhausen. The meaning of the Intermezzi would have been more accessible to Klinger’s contemporaries in late nineteenth-century Germany, in particular to the educated middle class, who were the audience for his art. The imagery is steeped in European art, literature, philosophy and music.

Klinger’s interest in the role of the subconscious was based on his reading of the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Decades before Sigmund Freud developed his psychoanalytic theories and wrote The Interpretation of Dreams, Klinger gave expression to the impulses, fears and desires that shape our waking lives.

Julie Robinson, Senior Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs