Otto Pankok

After Max Ernst, the artist Otto Pankok was now presented with his print works in a separate room. The presentation focused on the artist's portraits and self-portraits. In particular, Pankok's depictions of poets and his connections to literature offered new insights into the work of the important German painter and printmaker. In addition to international literary greats such as Dostoevsky, Pankok also portrayed the Neuss writer and editor of the publication "Der weiße Reiter," Karl Gabriel Pfeill. A special highlight was the extremely rare sheet "Tolstoj - Imaginary Portrait of the Russian Poet ", which is only known in an edition of seven copies. Not only his portraits of poets, but also the illustrations for his favorite book "The Robbers of Liang Shan Moor" showed Pankok's versatile involvement with literature. In addition to the 40 woodcuts, he also wrote the accompanying text based on the Chinese novel as translated by Franz Kuhn. In addition, quotes from the artist could be accessed at an audio station, revealing Pankok's struggles to create his art, which the National Socialists defamed as "degenerate."