The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

MEZ (Middle-European Time)

MEZ (Middle-European Time)

1919–20
(German, 1897–1983)
Germany, 20th century
woodcut
John L. Severance Fund 1993.210
Location: not on view

Description

MEZ is one of a set of four woodcuts Michel executed in Weimar, the site of the Bauhaus, a progressive art school where the goal was to amalgamate the natural sciences, technology, and art. Michel, who had been a test pilot, shared these aims, associating the function of mechanical parts with the dynamism of modern life and the idea that a new world would rise from the ashes of World War I. MEZ, which is an abbreviation for Middle-European Time, involves elements of time. The spinning mechanical discs and cogs that appear to rotate in a never-ending motion suggest time's continual state of flux.
  • (Catherine Burns Fine Art, Berkeley, CA)
    December 6, 1993
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
  • {{cite web|title=MEZ (Middle-European Time)|url=false|author=Robert Michel|year=1919–20|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1993.210