Luxembourg's National Museum of History and Art (MNHA) and the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL) have announced the opening of the new exhibition "Figure in Print", which will run from 22 January to 27 June 2021 at the MNHA and from 28 January to 18 April 2021 at the BnL.

This exhibition exploring the human figure in Luxembourgish printmaking is the result of a collaboration between the MNHA, the BnL and Luxembourg’s most renowned engraving workshop, Empreinte. With a selection of more than 170 works, presented in two different venues, the exhibition highlights the richness of the graphic production in the Grand Duchy from 1945 to the present day. The medium and its variety of artistic ex-pression are demonstrated through five themes: portraits, abstraction, nudes (in the Wiltheim wing at the MNHA), bodies in action and man’s place in society (at the BNL).

The selection of works from the MNHA’s collection, the BnL’s large "Cabinet of Prints" collection, Empreinte and other renowned contemporary artists span the eras of modern and contemporary art. The range of techniques is wide: relief techniques (woodcut, linocut), intaglio (copper-plate engraving, etching, aquatint, softground,etc.), lithography, silkscreen and new contemporary technique.

This major exhibition displays 84 artists of Luxembourgish origin or currently living and working in Luxembourg as printmakers, some of whom were or are significant figures for the Grand Duchy’s art history. With its growing role in contemporary art, thanks to the possibilities offered by new technologies, printmaking exceeds the status of a marginalised art form and is acclaimed at its fair value.

Figure in Print is part of a series of exhibitions shown at the MNHA in the field of contemporary prints. It allows the public to discover this very technical form of art, often unrecognised and wrongly associated with reproduction, while the world of contemporary art puts it more and more in the spotlight.

As part of the exhibition, the MNHA and the BnL have put together an educational programme with artist workshops, thematic tours and a series of conferences offering art lovers and amateurs the opportunity to acquaint themselves with a variety of aspects of printmaking today.

The bilingual catalogue (French and German), published by the MNHA and the BnL, contains three introductory expert essays, a glossary and information on the works in the exhibition. It is available in the museum shop, on the online sales platform www.mnha-shop.lu, at the reception of the BnL and in bookstores.