Franz Gertsch, Silvia

After a decade of exclusive concentration on the woodcut as an artistic medium, Franz Gertsch resumed painting again, using his wood-engraving experience to develop a unique style, yet one grounded within the principles of realism. Franz Gertsch-Silvia is a thoughtfully written, in-depth chronicle of the process of creating one painting. The author's use of precise technical terms for the anatomical & artistic details within the painting manages to give coherent shape to this portrait of a young woman. In designing the book, this parallel process of creation has been interspersed with photographs of the painting process as well as with details from the finished painting. As a result, the portrait of Silvia is assembled not only through the linguistic form of the description but also through a visual process.