The painter and graphic artist Friedrich Iwan (born 1889 in Landeshut, Lower Silesia; died 1967 in Wangen im Allgäu) loved the snow and the Giant Mountains. As a keen walker, he explored the most remote corners of the mountains and captured the landscape in striking paintings. His subjects were popular and also served as models for series of postcards that were widely distributed. With over 100 paintings and prints, the exhibition at the Silesian Museum in Görlitz invites visitors to take a stroll through snow-covered landscapes. Original printing plates, as well as postcards and published illustrations by the artist, are also on display.

Friedrich Iwan received his training in Breslau and Berlin, but the defining theme of his work became his later adopted home: the Giant Mountains. His winter scenes, in particular, are characterised by their extraordinary colour and atmospheric effect. Whilst the emerging tourism industry increasingly shaped the Giant Mountains, Iwan’s works primarily depicted a tranquil, almost deserted and unspoilt natural world.

The artist’s etchings are still highly prized today for their technical quality. They were created using a method he developed himself, which Iwan was the first and only person in the Giant Mountains to employ. The prints did not need to be coloured in afterwards and could be printed multiple times using just a single plate. Each sheet took on the character of an original.

After the Second World War, Friedrich Iwan was also forced to leave his Silesian homeland. He settled in Wangen im Allgäu, where he continued his artistic work. Fortunately, some of his original printing plates survived the war and were returned to him. This enabled Iwan to produce new editions of his prints. Later, his son Klaus Iwan continued this work. For refugees and displaced persons in particular, these depictions of the Karkonosze Mountains became images of remembrance and an emotional link between their lost homeland and the present.

The exhibition at the Silesian Museum in Görlitz is held under the patronage of the German Consul-General in Wrocław and was organised in cooperation with the Muzeum Karkonoskie Jelenia Góra (Karkonosze Museum, Hirschberg). A richly illustrated catalogue is being published.