[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

ECKMANN, Otto [1865-1902]

“Nachtreiher” / “Night Herons”

1896

lithographic reproduction of original woodcut /

Otto Eckmann was an important contributor to the German “Jugendstil” movement. Were this one of the original woodcuts, it would be valued much higher. Eckmann and other European artists of his time, however, were frequent contributors to The Studio: An Illustrated Magazine of Fine and Applied Art, a fine and decorative arts journal published in London from 1893 until 1964. Early issues included fine art reproductions, such as our copy of “Night Herons”. So, although unsigned, it was authorized by the artist — no doubt in the spirit of self-promotion.

“Nachtreiher” — sometimes subtitled “Drei Philosophen” or Three Philosophers) — was a contribution by Amity Burroughs Flynn to the G.A.R. Exhibit she organized in 1912, foundation of the Community Collection and a quiet testament to Flynn’s elevation of local artistic standards.