Frauenhaus am Wasser

Hans Meid

German printmaker-illustrator Hans Meid (1883-1957) did this impressionistic drypoint in 1922, this impression being a proof. The subject is a "women's retreat" by the water. Visitors arrive in gondola-like boats as couples engage with each other in the arched doorways and on benches.

Hans Meid was a major leader of impressionism, along with Max Slevogt, in Germany during the first decades of the twentieth century. A talented lithographer, etcher, engraver and painter, Hans Meid studied art in Karlsruhe under the direction of Trubner and Conz. His first artistic work dates from 1907 when he was employed as a designer for the firm Meissen, a porcelain manufacturer.

Within a few years, however, Meid had established himself in Berlin as a printmaker, creating both etchings and lithographs, and he soon began exhibiting his art throughout Europe. 1918 saw the first publication of a catalogue of his prints. In 1919 he accepted the post of Professor of Engraving at the Berlin Academy. During his career, Hans Meid created over 550 original lithographs, etchings and dry points, the majority being landscapes, figure studies and portraits.