page_title: Ernst Zipperer
section_title: Berlin Phase (1918 – 1940)
hierarchical_section_title: Ernst Zipperer / Work / Berlin Phase (1918 – 1940)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Schwäbische Alb mit Hohenrechberg und Hohenstaufen, Kaltnadelradierung, Probeabdruck
context_page_description: Ernst Gustav Zipperer was a German painter and printmaker.
context_section_description: In 1919 Ernst Zipperer discovered drypoint etching for himself. He drew and etched castles, city views, churches, landscapes, portraits, flowers and animals - mostly in small to medium format. The main topic in this phase was architecture. He found more than 40 motifs alone in his hometown of Ulm. On his numerous travels he made pencil drawings as preliminary studies for the later etchings.
  A total of more than 300 drypoint etchings were created, which were characterized by careful area division, well thought-out image composition and formal design ability. Added to this was the perspective effect of his pictures, which he succeeded convincingly despite one-eyed. Zipperer achieved an increase in spatiality and expression by drawing inspiration from Chiaroscuro. Also characteristic was the staffage found in many etchings, which discreetly guides the eye of the beholder.  
  "The many moving strokes, which sometimes had an almost shimmering effect - combined with a strict mold design - that was typical Zipperer". But he was not just concerned with the reproduction of reality. "Zipperer did not represent dead objects, but things that have a destiny and therefore life." Rather, he sought the creative translation of his perception into the artistic. "He knew how to express what weaves the visible in emotional mood".
  That Zipperer was also "a portrait drypoint etcher of rank and depth" is shown by his portraits, which he executed as pencil drawings and etchings. During training in Kassel he had received an award for portrait drawing.
  In the mid-twenties, Zipperer occasionally colored etchings by hand. As towards the end of the decade increasingly colored etchings were required, he had many of his motifs in color print.
  Numerous etchings were commissioned by cities, companies, art dealers or private individuals. A large part of the etchings was published by various publishers as art cards and sold through the art trade.
  Zipperer worked for decades with the copper printing company Wilhelm Schneider in Berlin, where the copper plates were stored. A larger number of plates were lost during the Second World War and in the subsequent turmoil or got into unauthorized hands. This explains that pirate prints came into circulation as a result.
  With his drypoint etchings Ernst Zipperer became known in Europe and America - less by exhibitions than by the very successful distribution of his pictures by some art publishers and numerous art shops in Germany and abroad. In addition to pencil drawings and etchings, Zipperer began working with pastels in this phase, sometimes in larger formats. Also some sketches in different techniques, which served for demonstration purposes in the classroom, are preserved from this time.
  Ernst Zipperer’s wife Elisabeth contributed considerably to his work since she kept him free from the burden of day-to-day activities. She handled business correspondence with the copperplate printers, art dealers and prospective buyers. Likewise, she helped to organize the countless visits of art lovers.
caption: Swabian Alb with Hohenrechberg and Hohenstaufen, drypoint, 1925
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