One image is not enough

In 1844, the Kunstverlagshandlung und Lithographische Anstalt A. Felgner was founded in Berlin. The publisher's program included lithographs, oil color prints, reliefs and color prints. The popular graphics, mostly with a wide black border, have a high recognition value due to their striking contour accentuation. Entire rows of glued-on, small-scale leaf or star shapes made of gold and silver foil emphasize the outlines of the figures depicted. Not infrequently, the so-called tinsel also take the form of vases, scepters or blossoms, which are specially produced in special factories. Today, these eye-catching, dazzling works are often perceived as overloaded or kitschy. It is noteworthy that the publisher seeks to appeal to yet another group of buyers with works of a completely different appearance. For the upscale, middle-class clientele, lithographs are produced based on carefully drawn sheets that provide the interested viewer of the picture with all the necessary information about the author and the subject of the picture.

With more than fifty sheets, the Clemens Sels Museum Neuss owns, thanks to generous donations and acquisitions, a stock that gives a representative impression of the versatile program of the Kunstverlagshandlung A. Felgner. In the exhibition at the Feld-Haus, the public is shown a selection of the most outstanding objects in the collection.