"Angkor in Cambodia flourished from the 9th century
to 15th century as the cultural, commercial and administrative centre
of the Khmer kingdoms. It came to the attention of the west in the
19th century as an exotic place where the jungle had reputedly reclaimed
the temples and ruins of an ancient civilisation. Angkor Wat is
only one, but the most spectacular and famous , of the many temples
in the Angkor area. My first visit to the ancient ruins of Angkor
was only a brief stay in 1969, with the war in neighbouring Vietnam
very close. I was on the way from Japan to archaeological work in
Israel then. Most of my Angkor etchings date from a second visit
in 1999. The majority of them were drawn on site onto the copperplates,
then etched, further developed and editioned in Canberra."
Jorg Schmeisser.
All You Have Gained Along the Way
" Jorg Schneisser’s distinguished printmaking career is informed
by a restless curiosity about the perception and essence of the
visual world. From the outset Schmeisser has been inspired by travel,
his imagination fired by the regular injections of the unfamiliar
and unknown. An alphabetical index of his prints would commence
with Antarctica, and conclude with Zanskar (Ladakh), with entries
between on Canberra, Hamburg, Jerusalem, Nara, Peking and Venice.
"The stimulation of travel is not novel in the history of printmaking.
Artists have gone abroad for a variety of reasons, to learn from
studying acknowledged masters, to obtain work, to see the great
natural and man-made sights. In the fifteenth century-century, German
artists completing an aprenticeship were expected to depart on the
‘wanderjahre’, a period of roaming as a journeyman. Albrecht
Durer was among the first printmakers to be inspired by travel,
visiting Colmar, Basle, Stuttgart and the Netherlands in the early
1490s. He later journeyed twice across the Alps to Venice, the jewel-encrusted
capital of an extensive maritime republic. Durer’s intent was
to immerse himself in the contemporary culture of humanist Italy,
evidence of which had reached him in the form of prints and books
in his hometown of Nuremburg. He wrote from Venice, praising the
fine company he kept, the knowledgeable men of the arts and music.
In one of his last letters from Venice, he closes ‘How I shall
freeze after this sun! Here I am a gentleman, at home only a parasite.’
"The Czech printmaker Wenceslaus Hollar traveled extensively during
most of his career, more out of necessity than by desire. Though
born in Prague in 1607, the interminable wars that swept through
central Europe during his youth caused him to spend his twenties
working in Stuttgart, Strasburg, Frankfurt and Cologne. His restful
images were in remarkable contrast to the war and destruction that
characterised Hollar’s environment. In 1634 he travelled to
the Netherlands, including Amsterdam, Delft and Rotterdam. His etchings
were greatly influenced by the Dutch terrain, as well as his contact
with contemporary landscape printmakers. In Antwerp he added an
unusual subject to his repertoire, executing still life prints of
sea-shells, and etchings of ladies’ muffs and gloves that are
now arguably his most famous works.
"In the nineteenth century technological advances made widespread
travel far more efficient and secure. Larger numbers of middle and
upper class Americans and Europeans visited sights that had previously
been inaccessible or dangerous. Artists also travelled more readily,
both encouraging travel with their depictions of exotic locales,
and responding to the demand for mementos of these visited meccas.
Printmakers in particular sought to communicate the allure of a
foreign destination, as souvenirs and as a form of armchair travel.
The American expatriate James McNeill Whistler is exemplary of the
new school of view-etchers. Born in Massachusetts, brought up in
Russia, dismissed from West Point military academy, and sacked from
his government job, Whistler departed to study art in Paris at the
age of twenty-one. In 1879 Whistler travelled to Venice on a commission
from a commercial gallery to execute a dozen prints in time for
the holiday season. Instead he remained eighteen months and created
in excess of fifty elegant images that enlarged the vocabulary of
etching and forever redefined the way artists perceived Venice.
"Schmeisser’s first extensive travel was to the Middle East
in 1965 as part of an excavation team in Israel for the University
of Missouri. His objective recording of archaeological finds led
to a precision and detail characteristic of much of his later work.
Travel to Greece, and return trips to Israel were later followed
by journeys through Italy, Australia, India, China, and Japan. Since
making his home in Canberra, Australia, twenty years ago, travel
has continued as an integral source of inspiration. In the recent
past he has travelled widely through the United States, to China,
to Japan, to the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and to Australian
Antarctica. As with Durer, his noble German forbear, he has travelled
to learn from other cultures and to interact with other artists.
As with Hollar, he has captured the appearance of a world in constant
flux, in landscape and in still life. As with Whistler, he has captured
a new vision of places familiar and unknown, pushing his media to
new expressive possibilities".
Excerpts from the Introduction "A Close Look, Jorg Schmeisser"
by Eric Denker, Washington.
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