Reflections and Undercurrents: Ernest Roth and Printmaking in Venice, 1900-1940

Reflections and Undercurrents: Ernest Roth and Printmaking in Venice, 1900-1940 is organized by Eric Denker, Ph.D., senior lecturer at the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition includes ninety-five works: etchings, preliminary drawings, etching plates, sketchbooks, and photographs.

More about this exhibition

Reflections and Undercurrents: Prints of Venice, 1900-1940 focuses on the art of Ernest David Roth (1879-1964). Roth was one of the most significant etchers of the first half of the twentieth century. This exhibition places the art and artist in the broader context of American and European etchers of the period.

Ernest Roth was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1879 and immigrated with his parents to the United States at the age of five. Little is known of his early life. He did not write many letters and was said to have been very shy. He studied painting at the National Academy of Design under Edgar Ward and George Maynard and at the New York School of Art under Luis Mora. He began as a landscape painter and was a regular contributor to the exhibitions at the National Academy. His geometric and colorful paintings usually depict views of such European towns as Seville, Venice and Toledo. As in his etchings, Roth concentrated on painting simple architectural views: people were rarely included in his scenes. He was devoted to truthful renderings of the architectural subjects he chose. Although not trained as an architect, Roth had an innate sense for architectural form and was a meticulous craftsman.

The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the David T. Langrock Foundation.

Ernest Roth, Venice , 1913