The dance of death at Basel Death and the Artist

The dance of death is a medieval allegorical concept of the all-conquering and equalizing power of death. The earliest know example of the fully developed concept is a series of paintings in a cemetery in Paris, dated 1424-25, now destroyed. The genre subsequently spread through Northern Europe. After 1440, there was a mural in view in Basel. Grieshaber reworks the motif and updates the dance to the 20th century.
Helmut Andreas Paul Grieshaber (1909-1981), or HAP Grieshaber, a German printmaker, preferred the medium of the woodcut. He was apprenticed as a book printer and typesetter, while at the same time he studied calligraphy. In 1932 Grieshaber began concentrating on woodcut techniques. He discovered his typical graphic style in the so-called ‘Reutlinger Drucke’, a style which is strongly influenced by medieval woodcut techniques. He also created artworks for public spaces, such as wooden reliefs, mosaics, murals and stained-glass windows.
Published by Verlag der Kunst.