HEADS
OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
HEADS
OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
with an introduction by Simon Theobald 2015
SIMON THEOBALD LONDON
Cover image: 30 | KARL SCHMIDT-ROTTLUFF 1884-1976 Christus und Judas Woodcut on paper, 1918
CONTENTS 5
Heads of Expressionism Introduction by Simon Theobald
11 PLATES 49 List of illustrated works
INTRODUCTION In the early years of the twentieth century, Europe found itself grappling with rising political and social unrest which would culminate in the outbreak of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. As countries jostled for position within Europe; building armies, creating alliances and bolstering nationalism, artists struggled to reposition themselves within society. The artist as decorator was an old-fashioned concept and a new wave of radical artistic spirits swept through Europe, determined to create art that was relevant. If the Impressionists had shaken the art world with their technical daring, the Expressionists, as they came to be known, would revolutionise our expectations of art as a reflector of all human experience. Whereas representations of nature had satisfied the appetites of previous generations of artists, Expressionists shifted the focus to the artist himself. For them, depictions of the head (in portraits or self-portraits) were invested with great symbolic gravitas, representing, as they did, the inner workings of the mind; emotionally, spiritually and philosophically. “Believing in development, in a new generation of creators as of patrons, we summon all young people. And as young people who are the bearers of the future, we wish to establish our freedom of action and life over against well-established older forces. Everyone belongs to our ranks who directly and authentically reproduces what impels him to create”
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s manifesto of 1905 for Der Brücke
Kirchner’s call to arms was not unique in the first decade of the twentieth century. Across Europe, artists were re-evaluating their relevance to society, issuing motivational manifestos and forming themselves into movements. International cultural dialogues were common and patrons such as Karl Ernst Osthaus (Plate 27) in Germany, Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov in Russia and the German Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler in Paris, played key roles in the development of artistic styles and the transference of ideas in twentieth century European art. In 1910 in Berlin, Herwarth Walden established the influential art magazine, “Der Sturm” (The Storm) specifically to publicize the evolving and explosively creative German art scene. Politically, Germany was gripped by waves of nationalism and cultural retrospection. When Gustav Pauli, director of the
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Der Sturm Periodical Cover illistration: Oskar Kokoschka July 1910
Kunsthalle in Bremen, purchased Van Gogh’s The Poppy Field (1890) for the museum in 1911, Carl Vinnen, an influential figure in German artistic circles, protested with a petition signed by 120 fellow artists (including Käthe Kollwitz), voicing the opinion that second-rate French painting was stifling the development of German art. There was, however, another group of German artists, equally nationalistic but less parochial, who were motivated to develop an artistic movement drawing the best from foreign art but filtered through a uniquely German sensibility. In 1905, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel founded the “Brücke” (Bridge) group in Dresden. Later, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller and (for a time) Emil Nolde became members. They drew direct artistic inspiration from the works of post-Impressionist artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gaugin and Edvard Munch (all of whom had been represented in major exhibitions held in Germany). They saw in these artists an ability to express psychological depth through images; whether Van Gogh’s agitated, emotional response to his subject, Gaugin’s affinity to primitivism in his woodcuts or Munch’s account of his own personal and profound spiritual journey. In addition, Expressionists embraced the nationalistic desire to define themselves as German. In this, they drew particularly upon German art of the Middle Ages; before restraint and refinement had drained it of artistic integrity. Early, apparently primitive, ecclesiastical wood carving resonated with their desire to reduce an image or object to its essential message and humanity. The woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer (1471 1528) held an enduring appeal and represented both a visual inspiration and a cultural talisman to the Expressionists. The clarity of both his style and message appealed to the group and direct resonances can be found in, for example, Emil Nolde’s Prophet (Plate 1) as well as Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s Christus (Plate 29). Friedrich Lippmann’s 19th century catalogue of Dürer drawings, Zeichnungen von Albrecht Dürer, remained Kirchner’s most treasured possession throughout his life. Whilst the 19th century had witnessed a proliferation of photomechanical processes which had removed artistic personality from printmaking, during the 1890s, a Europe-wide resurgence in popularity of the hand-crafted print encouraged a new generation of artists to use the medium as a legitimate and significant means of artistic expression. Their visual impact aside, they also represented good value for money; the set up costs were small and the resulting art was affordable to a broader, less affluent, clientele. The Brücke
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Paul Gaugin 1848 - 1903 Love and You Will Be Happy Woodcut on paper 1898
group was funded by a small membership fee which came to provide a regular and vital source of income for the artists. In return for their annual subscription of, initially, 12 Marks, the members would receive a membership card as well as an annual report and a presentation of three or four prints. In 1906-08, the prints were by various artists, in 1909-12 the presentation consisted of three prints by one artist, contained within a paper wrapper with a woodcut title by another artist of the group. The”Brücke” artists drew intellectual inspiration from the German philosopher of Friedrich Nietzsche; indeed their name comes from his defining notion that we should become bridges to something greater. Neitzsche’s philosophy of “life-affirmation” and the concept of creative powers of the individual needing to strive beyond social, cultural and moral contexts had won widespread recognition among the intellectuals of the day. Morality itself was scrutinised and a freer model of existence where love is unrestricted, nudity embraced and primitivism admired, won favour amongst both the “Brücke” and, the “Der Blaue Reiter” (Blue Rider) artists who formed in 1911 in Munich. Whereas Nietzsche rejected formalised religion, the Expressionists maintained a deep fascination for the Gothic early Christian society. They blended Christian and tribal symbolism, focussing on the spirit world contained in both. Emil Nolde, in particular, found the dichotomy inspirational. He owned an extensive collection of tribal masks and, in 1913, abandoned Germany for a period, travelling to remote colonial islands around German New Guinea in search of living a freer, more primitive lifestyle. Pechstein also assimilated a large collection of African art and travelled with his wife to the Palau Islands in 1914. Both artistsreturned at the outbreak of the First World War. Even within Germany, Expressionists were familiar with the contents of the Dresden Ethnographic Museum (housing African and Oceanic art) and recognised a novel and dynamic means of representing a face imbued with the sensuality of its primitive inspiration. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s Mädchen aus Kowno (Girl from Kowno) (Plate 8) demonstrates the clear influence of head masks from Cameroon. By adopting the imagery of the primitive world cultures, they sought to create a universal language; features were suggested in a highly schematic fashion and the entire physiognomy flattened. The mask was seen as a manifestation of a new concept of personality in the modern era. Personality was no longer fixed and static but was fluid and like a spirit. The search
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Edvard Munch 1863 - 1944 Self Portrait with Skeleton Arm Lithograph on paper 1895
for spirituality, or Persönlichkeit, was seen as man’s purpose and the Expressionist artist found his calling in the role of mapmaker to spiritual awareness. Civilising elements were expelled from their art in their pursuit of honest expression; free from the need to accurately represent a likeness and free from Western artistic convention. Mask-like features create an echo of Everyman and the vacant eyes appear fixed elsewhere as in Erich Heckel’s Beim Vorlesen (Reading Aloud) (Plate 26). Heckel’s Hockende Crouching Woman) (Plate 23) is a monumental woodcut, created at a highpoint in the artist’s printmaking career. The intense close-up view of the model with roughly carved tribal features exemplifies the Expressionist mood. Heckel made particular use of uneven woodblocks at this time and his works are pervaded with a brutal melancholy which contrasts strikingly with his works of his earlier Dresden years. Throughout Germany, other contemporary artists adopted their own form of expression beneath the Expressionist banner; Käthe Kollwitz and Max Beckmann for example, for whom membership of a formal collective was anathema. The First World War disrupted the pre-war Expressionist spiritual and cultural and social ambitions. Major artistic figures such as Franz Mark and August Macke were killed and many others were profoundly affected by their experiences. The post war reality left little time for esoteric spirituality. Käthe Kollwitz depicts the void after the brutality with as much force as Otto Dix or George Grosz. Coming to terms with the consequences of the war brought about a crippling cynicism in many of the Expressionists and a desire to make sense of madness. Otto Dix’s Syphilitiker (Man with Syphilis) (Plate 11) explores the hollow pleasures and consequences within the mind of a diseased man. George Grosz demonstrates, with bitter irony, the wretched situation after the war in ‘Der Dank des Vaterlandes ist Euch gewiss (You can be certain of the gratitude of the Fatherland) (Plate 14). Using her art as a tool for social responsibility, Käthe Kollwitz’s portraits of individuals’ suffering represent the larger causes of man’s inhumanity to man. As the daughter of a socialist and wife of a doctor in impoverished areas of Berlin, Kollwitz witnessed the effects of poverty on her doorstep. In the years, before the First World War, she learnt from fellow Expressionists the power of the simple and simplified image in terms of relaying a message. Kollwitz’s skeletal heads gave voice to the poor and oppressed in society. After the agonising experience
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Songye Tribe Democratic Republic of the Congo Kifwebe Female Mask
of losing her son in battle, she embraced pacifism and executed some of the most penetratingly moving portraits of the twentieth century. Kollwitz’s self portrait (Plate 20) represents a masterclass in restraint and depth; the face of the artist is like a mask in profile; the viewer cannot engage with her, only observe the suffering etched into her features. Ludwig Meidner, who, with the woodcut artist Jacob Steinhardt, co-founded the Munich Expressionist group “Die Pathetiker” (The Suffering Ones), shared Kollwitz’s socialist ideals and was a close friend of George Grosz. His artistic output focussed overwhelmingly on portraiture, including forty self-portraits including Selbstporträt mit Mütze (Self-Portrait with Cap) (Plate 15), many of them drypoints, showcasing his nervous, vibrating line. Whereas Meidner drew upon self-portraiture as a means of self-understanding, Max Beckmann focussed on exploring the variety of selves that make up an individual. In Selbstbildnis mit steifem Hut (Self-Portrait in bowler hat) (Plate 2), Beckmann depicts himself as a dandy with a bowler hat, stiff collar, and cigarette. With echoes of Albrect Dürer’s 1493 Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and a Pillow, Beckmann carries the the historical artistic reference through to the end of the movement. In the latter years of the 1920s and 1930s, the search for spiritual content gave way to a new artistic energy, where individuality and exploration of the self no longer featured and propaganda eliminated individual artistic expression. A generation of artists, gathered under the umbrella of Expressionism, had witnessed a European-wide descent into madness. Whilst still filtering through the ashes of their experiences, a new insanity dawned. Works by George Grosz, Otto Dix and Expressionists more generally were vilified as exemplifications of degeneracy. In an act of intended humiliation, in July 1937, Adolf Hitler mounted an officially sponsored exhibition in Munich of Entartete Kunst, (the Degenerate Art Exhibition). Displayed chaotically and accompanied by defamatory labels the show was a runaway success. At the end of four months, Entartete Kunst had attracted over two million visitors. The exhibition aims to represent a broad range of images of heads as portrayed by the Expressionists during those first tumultuous and turbulent decades of the twentieth century and to highlight the impact, intentions and skill of the artists behind them. Simon Theobald
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Albrecht Dürer 1471 - 1528 Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and a Pillow Pen drawing on paper 1493 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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PLATES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Emil Nolde Prophet Max Beckmann Selbstbildnis mit steifem Hut (Self-Portrait in Bowler Hat) Max Beckmann Schlangendame (Snake Lady) Max Beckmann Der Ausrufer (Selbstbildnis) (The Barker, Self-Portrait) Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Kopf Albert Muller (Portrait of the Artist Albert Muller) Alexej Jawlensky Frauenkopf, Femina (Head of a Woman) Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Mutter (Mother) Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Mädchen aus Kowno (Girl from Kowno) Emil Nolde Frauenbildnis im Gegenlicht (gelb und grün) (Portrait of a Woman) Otto Dix Dame (Woman) Otto Dix Syphilitiker (Man with Syphilis) Otto Dix Selbst (Self-Portrait) Max Beckmann Selbstbildnis mit aufgestürtzer Wange (Self-Portrait, Hand to Cheek) George Grosz Der Dank des Vaterlandes ist Euch gewiss (You can be certain of the gratitude of the Fatherland) Ludwig Meidner Selbstporträt mit Mütze (Self-Portrait with Cap) Gefecht (Battle) (verso) Conrad Felixmüller Der politischer Häftling (Porträt Elsner), (The political Prisoner) Conrad Felixmüller Georgette (Mädchen mit offenem Haar) (Girl with loose Hair) Conrad Felixmüller Menschen im Wald (Paar in Wald) (Couple in the Forest) Käthe Kollwitz Helft Russland (Help Russia) Käthe Kollwitz Selbstbildnis im Profil (Self-Portrait in Profile) Käthe Kollwitz Stehendes älteres Paar (Im Leichenschauhaus) (An old Couple Standing) (In the morgue) Käthe Kollwitz Drei Studien einer klagenden Frau (Three Studies of a lamenting Woman) Erich Heckel Hockende (Crouching woman) Emil Nolde Doppelbildnis (Double Portrait) Erich Heckel Mann in der Ebene (Man on the plain, Self-Portrait) Erich Heckel Beim Vorlesen (Reading Aloud) Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Portrait Karl Ernst Osthaus Erich Heckel Jüngling (Young Man) Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Christus (Christ) Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Christus und Judas (Christ and Judas)
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Emil Nolde 1867 - 1956 Prophet Woodcut on paper, 1915 The Prophet, his soulful expressing deep emotion, is one of Nolde’s most famous woodcuts. This was one of a series of works Nolde created after recovering from a serious illness, when he was inspired to create works inspired by spirituality, taking many references from the Bible. Exploiting the bold characteristics of the woodcut technique to great effect, Nolde uses deep gougings out of the wood to portray a sunken face and heavy brow, the grain of the wood serving to enhance the wizened look of the subject. It is an effective portrayal of a devout yet angst-ridden believer, and remains a masterpiece of the twentieth century.
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Max Beckmann 1884 - 1950 Selbstbildnis mit steifem Hut (Self-Portrait in Bowler Hat) Drypoint on paper, 1921 In this 1921 self-portrait, Beckmann depicts himself as a dandy with a bowler hat, stiff collar and cigarette. The profile of a cat sitting on a table behind him to the left and an ashtray and kerosene lamp to his right fill out the tight composition. Beckmann created about eighty self-portraits over a career that spanned virtually half a century. He used his own image and persona to delve into the complexities of the human soul, showing the variety of selves that make up an individual. In this portrait, Beckmann shows that he is every bit the modern man; confident in his powers of observation and cool, critical detachment. (Mineapolis Institute of Fine Arts online catalogue, 2013). This self-portrait represents the high-point of Beckmann’s graphic art.
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Max Beckmann 1884 - 1950 Schlangendame (Snake Lady) Drypoint on paper, 1921
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Max Beckmann 1884 - 1950 Der Ausrufer (Selbstbildnis) (The Barker, Self-Portrait) Drypoint on paper, 1921
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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880 - 1938 Kopf Albert Muller (Portrait of the Artist Albert Muller) Woodcut printed in colours on paper, 1925 Whilst living in Switzerland, Kirchner formed a close artistic friendship with the Basel artist Albert Müller (1897 - 1926). The two artists met in 1923 and during the years 1924-1926 Müller was a frequent guest (with his wife Anna and their twins Judith and Caspar) at Kirchner’s house in Frauenkirche. In 1924 together with Hermann Scherer and Paul Camenisch (and later Werner Neuhaus), Müller founded the artist group Rot-Blau (Red-Blue), but died suddenly in 1926. This unusually gentle and sensitive large-scale portrait combines both primitive style with a more detailed, finer cutting of the woodblock. It is a tribute to the artists’ close friendship. Kirchner will have only printed a few impressions of this woodblock and for this example he used a special sheet of ‘Japan’ paper and gave it to the great Hamburg collector Gustav Schiefler, who had championed the work of Kirchner and who compiled the first catalogue raisonne of Kirchner’s prints.
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Alexej Jawlensky 1864 - 1941 Frauenkopf, Femina (Head of a Woman) Oil on board, 1922 Jawlensky moved from Russia to Munich, where he met Wassily Kandinsky and formed with him the Neue K端nstlerverinigung, Munchen. Painting with Kandinsky and Gabriele M端nter in the Bavarian alps during the ensuing years, he is known for his strongly expressive landscapes, still lives and portraits. As early as 1910 - 1911, his portraits become more simplified and generalised in form whilst retaining strong and intense colouring. Over the years, he increasingly abandoned temporal features as he sought subliminal abstraction in an iconic form. The human face became the principal means through which Jawlensky attempted to express the inner soul.
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Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 - 1976 Mutter (Mother) Woodcut on paper, 1916
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Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 - 1976 M채dchen aus Kowno (Girl from Kowno) Woodcut on paper, 1916
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EMIL NOLDE 1867 - 1956 Frauenbildnis im Gegenlicht (gelb und grün) (Portrait of a Woman) Watercolour on japan paper, 1930 Nolde joined the Brücke in Berlin in 1906, however, spent most of his time in his native Schleswig Holstein on the north coast of Germany where he painted wild landscapes and seascapes as well as figurative subjects. During the 1930s, he painted extensively in watercolour, using fine Japanese paper and allowing the rich colours to bleed across the dampened paper, controlling the movement with a tuft of cotton. The technique allowed him to produce works of extraordinary vibrancy and spontaneity. “Nolde elevated watercolour far above the level of a specialised technique and achieved works of breathtaking and ephemeral beauty which stand unique in the history of twentieth century art” (P. Seltz, Emil Nolde, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1963).
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10 | Otto Dix 1891 - 1969 Dame (Woman) Drypoint on paper, 1922
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11 | Otto Dix 1891 - 1969 Syphilitiker (Man with Syphilis) Drypoint on paper, 1920
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12 | Otto Dix 1891 - 1969 Selbst (Self-Portrait) Silverpoint and chalk on card, 1934
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13 | Max Beckmann 1884 - 1950 Selbstbildnis mit aufgest端rtzer Wange (Self-Portrait, Hand to Cheek) Drypoint on paper, 1916
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14 | George Grosz 1893 - 1959 Der Dank des Vaterlandes ist Euch gewiss (You can be certain of the gratitude of the Fatherland) Pen and ink on paper, circa 1920-1923 The title of this work Der Dank des vaterlandes ist Euch gewiss (You can be certain of the gratitude of the Fatherland) is a bitter and ironic reference to the inscription on the reverse of medals awarded to the German soldiers of the First World War. This large-scale work was created at the height of Grosz’s satirical powers, and is a caustic attack on the German government’s treatment of the war wounded and their sufferings in the aftermath of the war. Grosz published this work in his major pamphlet Abrechnung folgt! (The Day of Reckoning!) in 1923. A work that contributed to his very troubled relationship with the authorities.
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15 | Ludwig Meidner 1884 -1966 Selbstportr채t mit M체tze (Self-Portrait with Cap) Gefecht (Battle) (verso) Pencil drawing on paper, 1915
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16 | Conrad Felixm체ller 1897 -1977 Der politischer H채ftling (Portr채t Elsner), (The political Prisoner) Woodcut printed in colours on paper, 1921
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17 | Conrad Felixm체ller 1897 - 1977 Georgette (M채dchen mit offenem Haar) (Girl with loose Hair) Pen and ink on paper, 1922
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18 | Conrad Felixm端ller 1897 - 1977 Menschen im Wald (Paar in Wald) (Couple in the Forest) Woodcut printed in colours on paper,1918
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19 | K채the Kollwitz 1867 - 1945 Helft Russland (Help Russia) Lithograph on paper, 1921
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20 | K채the Kollwitz 1867 - 1945 Selbstbildnis im Profil (Self-Portrait in Profile) Lithograph on paper, 1927
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21 | K채the Kollwitz 1867 - 1945 Stehendes 채lteres Paar (Im Leichenschauhaus) (An old Couple standing) (In the morgue) Charcoal on paper, 1919
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22 | K채the Kollwitz 1867 - 1945 Drei Studien einer klagenden Frau (Three Studies of a lamenting Woman) Charcoal on paper, 1905
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23 | Erich Heckel 1883 - 1970 Hockende (Crouching woman) Woodcut on paper, 1913
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24 | Emil Nolde 1867 - 1956 Doppelbildnis (Double Portrait) Woodcut on paper, 1937
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25 | Erich Heckel 1883 - 1970 Mann in der Ebene (Man on the Plain, Self-Portrait) Woodcut on paper, 1917
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26 | Erich Heckel 1883 - 1970 Beim Vorlesen (Reading Aloud) Woodcut on paper, 1914
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27 | Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880 - 1938 Portrait Karl Ernst Osthaus Etching on paper, 1915
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28 | Erich Heckel 1883 - 1970 J端ngling (Young Man) Woodcut on paper, 1917
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29 | Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 - 1976 Christus (Christ) Woodcut on paper, 1918
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30 | Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 - 1976 Christus and Judas (Christ and Judas) Woodcut on paper, 1918
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATED WORKS 1 | Emil Nolde 1867 -1956 Prophet Woodcut on paper, 1912 Subject size: 32.2 x 22.2 cm Sheet size: 42.1 x 28.4 cm 4| On heavy oatmeal wove paper, signed in pencil, titled in the lower margin, (Schiefler records ‘at least’ 20 to 30 impressions of this subject). Literature: Schiefler, Mosel 110 Impressions of this woodcut are in various museums, including the Ada and Emil Nolde Foundation, Seebüll, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 2 | Max Beckmann 1884 -1950 Selbstbildnis mit steifem Hut (Self-Portrait in bowler hat) Drypoint on paper, 1921 Plate size: 31.3 x 24.4 cm Sheet size: 50.8 x 32 cm On laid paper, third state (of four), a superb proof impression, signed in pencil, inscribed ‘5. Dr.’ and ‘Früher Abdruck’, one of only a few proofs before the first edition of 50 (there was a further edition of 50 in the fourth state in 1922 or later, after the complete removal of the background), Hofmaier records only five of these early proofs before the first edition. Literature: Hofmaier 180/III/A (of IV B) 3 | Max Beckmann 1884 -1950 Schlangendame (Snake Lady) Drypoint on paper, 1921 Subject size: 28.7 x 25.8 cm Sheet size: c 55 x 38 cm On Japan, a fine impression, signed in pencil, from the deluxe edition of 75 on this paper (there were a further 125 on wove paper printed at the time, and a posthumous edition in 1966 totaling 110), published by the Marees Gesellschaft, R Piper and Co, Munich, 1922. 49
Literature: Hofmaier 200 B a Plate 10 from the set of ten prints for Der Jarhmarkt (Annual Fair) Max Beckmann 1884 -1950 Der Ausrufer (Selbstbildnis) (The Barker, Self-Portrait) Drypoint on paper, 1921 Subject size: 33.5 x 25.6 cm Sheet size: c 55 x 38 cm On Japan, a fine impression, signed in pencil, from the deluxe edition of 75 on this paper (there were a further 125 on wove paper printed at the time, and two posthumous editions – in 1966 and 1984 – totaling 265), published by the Marees Gesellschaft, R Piper and Co, Munich, 1922. Literature: Hofmaier 191 B a Plate 1 from the set of ten prints for Der Jarhmarkt (Annual Fair) ‘Max Beckmann imagines the world as a carnival in this portfolio. On the title page, he casts himself as a barker for a traveling band of outsiders, the Circus Beckmann. Shown ringing a bell, and pointing to the edge of the page, he urges viewers to behold the spectacles unfolding within. In Beckmann’s theater of life everyone plays many roles: actor, observer, director. The ten rich, velvety drypoints touch upon the major themes he explored throughout his long and productive career: existential crisis, the alienation of modern life, and the insurmountable conflict between the sexes. Beckmann’s Expressionist manipulation of space and his pushing together of figures increase the emotional distance between the individuals, who appear to exist only in worlds unto themselves. Actors corralled together backstage wait patiently, not realizing that their true performance—life itself—has already begun. Beckmann conveys female sexuality as a dangerous lure in scenes set in the shooting gallery, on stage, and behind the scenes.
In one print, he depicts himself and his wife, Minna, balancing on a tightrope—an allusion to Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which the philosopher describes man as a “rope” hung over an abyss between base animal and heroic Übermensch’. Heather Hess, Museum of Modern Art, German Expressionist Digital Archive Project, German Expressionism: Works from the Collection. 2011. 5 | Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880 -1938 Kopf Albert Muller (Portrait of the Artist Albert Muller) Woodcut printed in colours on paper, 1925 Subject size: 53.5 x 30 cm On soft Japan, a superb impression of this exceptionally rare print, the orange-red and the black inks fresh and vibrant. Signed in pen and ink, inscribed Erster Handdruck and dedicated to Gustav Schiefler and signed again and dated Juni 27. Provenance: Otto Schäfer, Schweinfurt, his stamp verso Kornfeld 1992 Literature: Dube 542/b; E W Kornfeld, Nachzeichnung seines Lebens, p.240, reproduced Kirchner specially hand-printed examples of his woodcuts for Gustav Schiefler and signed them in ink Note: This is Gercken’s second state (of three), and known in only four or five impressions. There was a later lithographic poster edition. We are grateful to Professor Günther Gercken for this information. 6 | Alexej Jawlensky 1864 - 1941 Frauenkopf, Femina (Head of a Woman) Oil on board, 1922 Subject size: 40 x 30.5 cm Exhibited: New York, Sidney Janis Gallery, Jawlensky, 1957, no. 33 Minneapolis, The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Drawings, Paintings & Sculpture from Three Private Collections, 1960, no. 84
Literature: Clemens Weiler, Alexej Jawlensky, Cologne, 1959, no. 292, illustrated p. 248 Clemes Weiler, Jawlensky, Heads, Faces, Meditations, London, 1970, no. 198, illustrated p. 123 Maria Jawlensky, Lucia Pieroni-Jawlensky & Angelica Jawlensky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Catalogue Raisonné of the the Oil Paintings, 1914-1933, vol. II, London, 1992, no. 1173, illustrated p. 348 7 | Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 -1976 Mutter (Mother) Woodcut on paper, 1916 Image Size: 36.9 x 30.5cm Sheet Size : 61.6 x 50.8cm On laid paper, signed in pencil, from the edition of 75. Stamped in ink “Kulturhistorisches Museum Rostock Inv N” on the verso, and with the inventory number “K27jG” inscribed in pencil. This subject is the eighth of a portfolio entitled ‘Zehn Holzschnitte’ made up of ten woodcuts plus a woodcut Table of Contents, which was published by JB Neumann, Berlin, in 1919. Literature: Schapire 194 Provenance: The Burkamp Collection, Rostock Stored at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Rostock. Later appropriated by the German Democratic Republic and restored to the heir of Burkamp in 1996. 8 | Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 -1976 Mädchen aus Kowno (Girl from Kowno) Woodcut on paper, 1918 Image Size : 49.5 x 38.7cm Sheet Size : 62.2 x 50.8 cm Laid paper, 1918, signed in pencil, from the edition of 75. Stamped in ink “Kulturhistorisches Museum Rostock Inv N” on the verso, and with the inventory number “K27iG” inscribed in pencil. This subject is the tenth of a portfolio entitled ‘Zehn Holzschnitte’ made up of ten woodcuts plus a woodcut Table of Contents, which was 50
published by JB Neumann, Berlin, in 1919. Literature: Schapire 209 Provenance: The Burkamp Collection, Rostock Stored at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Rostock. Later appropriated by the German Democratic Republic and restored to the heir of Burkamp in 1996.
Exhibitions: Allemagne les années noires, Musée Maillol, Paris, 31.10.2007-04.02.2008 Literature: Florian Karsch (publisher), Otto Dix. Das graphische Werk. Fackelträger- Verlag Schmidt-Küster GmbH, Hannover 1970, p.133, no. 15, p.38 (another example illustrated). Bertrand Lorquin, Ammette Vogel und Hans Wilderötter, Allemagne les années noires, Musée Maillol, Verlag Gallimard, Paris 2007, p.210 (full page colour image) Notes: The sheet comes from the portfolio ‘5 Radierungen’ (the third portfolio from the series ‘Graphische Reihe’), published by Dresdner Verlag, 1921, published by Heinar Schilling. Furthermore 10 numbered, as well as some proofs without numbers are known (Karsch, p.133).
9 | Emil Nolde 1867 - 1956 Frauenbildni s im Gegenlicht (gelb und grün) (Portrait of a Woman, back lit) Watercolour on japan paper, 1930 Subject Size: 47.3 x 35 cm Signed lower right Provenance: Estate of the artist Kleemann Galleries, Inc., New York Private collection, New York (acquired from the above, November 1957) Dr. Manfred Reuther from the Nolde Stiftung, Seebüll, has confirmed the authenticity of this work. Notes: The work was painted in autumn 1930 in Sylt.
12 | Otto Dix 1891 - 1969 Selbst (Self-Portrait) Silverpoint and chalk on card, 1934 Sheet size: 36.5 x 32.2 cm Signed with the monogram and dated Provenance: Private collection Nordrhein-Westfalen Literature: This will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne by Ulrike Lorenz with the number IE 1.1.10.
10 | Otto Dix 1891 - 1969 Dame (Woman) Drypoint on paper, 1922 Subject size: 34.7 x 28.1 cm Sheet size: 49.8 x 43.3 cm Signed and titled in pencil, numbered 26/50, published by Heinar Schilling, Dresdener Verlag 13 | Provenance: Carl B. Strehlke, Florence Literature: Florian Karsch (publisher), Otto Dix. Das graphische Werk, Hannover 1970, cat. no. 19/II, p. 42 11 | Otto Dix 1891 - 1969 Syphilitiker (Man with Syphilis) Etching on paper, 1920 Subject size: 25 x 22.8 cm Sheet size:50 x 34.9 cm On wove paper, 1920, signed and titled in pencil, numbered 11/20 51
Max Beckmann 1884 -1950 Selbstbildnis mit aufgestürtzer Wange (Self Portrait, Hand to Cheek) Drypoint on paper, 1916 Subject size: 17.1 x 11.5 cm Sheet size: 28.3 x 21.5 cm Third (final) state, on cream crisp wove paper with part of an armorial watermark, a superb and delicate proof impression, of this exceptionally rare and unpublished print, signed in pencil and dedicated ‘Fräulein Kreutzncher und Herrn/ Julius Carl zum Andenken/ an Weihnachten 1916’.
George Grosz, El rostro de la clase dominante Ajustaremos cuentas!, Coleccion, Punto, y Linea, Serie grafica, Editorial Gustavo Gili, S A. Barcelona, 1977, p 131 George Grosz, The Day of Reckoning, F Whitford, Allison and Busby, London, New York, 1984, plate 49 (titled ‘...the war-wounded are becoming a veritable national nuisance’) We are grateful to Mr Ralph Jentsch for his assistance in the cataloguing of this work. The collector Donald Thomas Bergen (19302009) was a businessman, co- publisher of the art journal, Studio International, and collector of German Expressionist Art. Bergen’s collection included work by, among others, Ernst Barlach, Max Beckmann, Lovis Corinth, Otto Dix, Lyonel Feininger, Conrad Felixmuller, George Grosz, Erich Heckel, Ferdinand Hodler, Carl Hofer, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Ludwig Meidner, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, Hermann Max Pechstein, Egon Schiele, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.
Provenance: Collection Julius Carl, most likely the brother of Walther Carl and Friedel Battenberg (born Carl), close friend’s of the artist in Frankfurt. Literature: Hofmaier 100 III
14 | George Grosz 1893 - 1959 Der Dank des Vaterlandes ist Euch gewiss (You can be certain of the gratitude of the Fatherland) Pen and ink on paper, circa 1920-1923 Sheet size: 63.4 x 50.7 cm Signed lower right Exhibited: Berlin, Galerie Nierendorf, George Grosz: Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Graphiken, May-June, 1958, no. 73 Berlin, Galerie Nierendorf, Max Beckmann George Grosz, June- September 1966, no.79 Chicago, Art Institute, c 1977 (label verso) Notre Dame, Indiana, University of Notre Dame, German Expressionist Drawings, from the collection of D. Thomas Bergen, 1977, no.16 15 | Ludwig Meidner 1884 - 1966 travelled to Cambridge, Harvard, Selbstporträt mit Mütze (Self-Portrait with Cap) Busch-Resinger Museum, June -July 1977 Gefecht (Battle) (verso) Toledo, Museum of Art, 1978 Pencil drawing on paper, 1915 Provenance: Sheet size: 53 x 40.5 cm D Thomas Bergen, London, 1970’s Christies Signed and dated lower right, signed and London, circa 1980 Piccadilly Gallery London numbered on the reverse: 164 1981 Provenance: Private Collection UK Janet and Marvin Fishman, Milwaukee, Literature: Wisconsin George Grosz, Abrechnung folgt!, Berlin, 1923, pl. 51 16 | Conrad Felixmüller 1897 - 1977 Bern, Kornfeld und Klipstein 25-6 May 1962, Der politischer Häftling (Porträt Elsner), p.58-9 (the related drawing) (The political Prisoner) George Grosz, Welt der Kunst, Berlin, 1966, p Woodcut printed in colours on paper, 1921 35 Subject size: 54.5 x 34.5cm Beckmann und Grosz bei Nierendorf, Weltkunst, Sheet size: 61 x 49.5cm July 1966, p 672 Second state, signed in pencil, one of only six George Grosz. Das Gesicht der herrschenden impressions. Klasse & Abrechnung folgt!, Makol Verlag, Literature: Frankfurt, 1972, plate 109 Conrad Felixmüller, Das Graphische Werk, George Grosz, Agguisteremo I Conti, Bari, 1973, 1912 -1977, ed. Gerhart Söhn, Düsseldorf 1975, p 67 no. 248, (another image illustrated), 2nd ed. George Grosz, Die Welt ist ein Lunapark, Uwe M 1987 Schneede, Pinkus Verlag, Zurich, 1977, pl. 141 52
17 | Conrad Felixmüller 1897 - 1977 Georgette (Mädchen mit offenem Haar) (Girl with loose Hair) Pen and ink on paper, 1922 Sheet size: 65 x 49.5 cm Signed and dated. Literature: Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Lagerkatalog 34, 1965, Konrad Felixmuller, page 40, illustration no. 55 18 | Conrad Felixmüller 1897 - 1977 Menschen im Wald (Paar in Wald) (Couple in the Forest) 20 | Woodcut printed in colours on paper,1918 Subject size: 25.5 x 30.5 cm Sheet size: 33 x 38 cm Signed in pencil. Literature: Conrad Felixmüller, Das Graphische Werk, 1912 -1977, ed. Gerhart Söhn, Düsseldorf 1975, no. 135, p. 68, 2nd ed. 1987, no. 135, p. 47 19 | Käthe Kollwitz 1867 –1945 Helft Russland (Help Russia) Lithograph on paper, 1921 Subject Size: 40.5 x 48.5 cm 21 | Sheet Size: 48.9 x 64.7 cm Signed in pencil, from the edition of 300 signed impressions, published by Paul Cassirer, Berlin for the committee of the ‘Künstlerhilfe’ of the IAH (International Relief for Workers), following the unsigned poster edition which was issued with text above and below the subject. Literature: Knesebeck 170 A III An example of this lithograph is in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. “In 1921, a famine in the Volga region of Soviet Russia threatened the lives of millions of peasants, and stories of cannibalism and other horrors circulated in the West, prompting Kollwitz to make this lithograph. Gaunt cheeks and sunken eyes give an emaciated man a skeletal appearance, while hands circle around him offering help. Kollwitz gives the tragedy a human face and urges her compatriots to lend their support. 53
This poster was published as part of the relief efforts of the Internationale Arbeiterhilfe (International Worker’s Aid), a Communist backed organization founded in August 1921 as a response to Vladimir Lenin’s call for help from the international proletariat. Some versions came with with the exhortation “Helft Russland” (Help Russia) written near the top. Kollwitz’s image circulated widely in Europe and the United States”. (Heather Hess, German Expressionist Digital Archive Project, German Expressionism: Works from the Collection. 2011). Käthe Kollwitz 1867 - 1945 Selbstbildnis im Profil (Self-Portrait in Profile) Lithograph on paper, 1927 Subject Size: 32.2 x 29.5cm Sheet Size: 50.5 x 36.5cm Signed and dated in pencil. Note: In 1929, this lithograph was offered as an annual gift to the Members/Friends of Kunstverein Kassel. Literature: Knesebeck 235 b (of c) Käthe Kollwitz 1867–1945 Stehendes älteres Paar (Im Leichenschauhaus) An old Couple standing (In the morgue) Charcoal on paper, 1919 Subject size: 38 x 31 cm; Sheet size: 41.8 x 39.9 cm Provenance: Heinrich Sauerwein, Munich, by descent to Ingeborg Tremmel, 1925 - 2002 (Furstenfeldbruck, near Munich) sold, The Tremmel Collection, Ketterer Kunst, Munich, May 5-6, 2003. The married couple Johanna Ackermann (18891956) and Walter Sauerwein (1889-1968), art dealers active first in Frankfurt and as of 1933 in Munich, traded in modern and older graphics and privately collected, aside from Käthe Kollwitz, the Expressionists, French graphics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and works by the old masters. This major collection,
was inherited by Ingeborg Tremmel. After her death, the collection was auctioned by the firm Ketterer Kunst in Munich. Drawings from the Tremmel collection are now in distinguished museums including The J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and elsewhere. Literature: Not in Nagel/ Timm, but see Nagel/ Timm 795803 for comparisons
23 | Erich Heckel 1883-1970 Hockende (Crouching woman) Woodcut on paper, 1913 Subject size: 42 x 31 cm Sheet size: 64 x 49 cm Signed, dated and titled in pencil, aside from the edition of 40, which was published in Elf Holzschnitte 1912- 1919, Erich Heckel bei I.B Neumann, Berlin 1921. Literature: Dube H 263 II A This monumental woodcut was created at a highpoint in the artist’s printmaking career. The intense close-up view of the model with roughly carved tribal features exemplifies the Expressionist mood. Heckel made particular use of uneven woodblocks at this time and his works are pervaded with a melancholy which contrasts strikingly with his works of his earlier Dresden years. An example of this woodcut is in the British Museum, London and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. A preparatory drawing in Black Chalk from 1913 is in the Brücke Museum, Berlin.
22 | Käthe Kollwitz 1867–1945 Drei Studien einer klagenden Frau (Three Studies of a lamenting Woman) Charcoal on paper, 1905 Subject size: 54 x 42 cm; Sheet size: 58.8 x 47.5 cm Provenance: Ingeborg Tremmel, 1925 - 2002 (Furstenfeldbruck, near Munich) sold, The Tremmel Collection, Ketterer Kunst, Munich, May 5-6, 2003 Exhibition: Käthe Kollwitz. Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, 1952, Cat. No. 34 with ill. 13, there dated around 1910. 24 | Literature: Galerie Ernst Arnold. Katalog Handzeichnungen deutscher Meister. 1919 No. 141 ill. p. 51; Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett, 14. Auction, 1951 Cat. 1665 Nagel/Timm 383 The married couple Johanna Ackermann (18891956) and Walter Sauerwein (1889-1968), art dealers active first in Frankfurt and as of 1933 in Munich, traded in modern and older graphics and privately collected, aside from Käthe Kollwitz, the Expressionists, French graphics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and works by the old masters. This major collection, was inherited by Ingeborg Tremmel. After her death, the collection was auctioned by the firm Ketterer Kunst in Munich. Drawings from the Tremmel collection are now in distinguished museums including The J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and elsewhere. 54
Emil Nolde 1867 - 1956 Doppelbildnis (Double Portrait) Woodcut on paper, 1937 Subject size: 31.8 x 22.8 cm Sheet size: 41.4 x 30 cm On firm wove paper, the relief of the block evident on the reverse of the sheet, a superb, black impression, signed in pencil, from the edition of 150, with a number 104. lower left, published for the Swiss Printing Society in 1937. Literature: Schiefler/Mosel/Urban 193 II A strikingly bold woodcut where the artist highlights the grain of the wood in the careful inking of the block. Nolde was fascinated by encounters between two people, whether in discussion and debate, or as here in a harmonious union. Although Nolde had trained as a woodcarver earlier in his career, it was Schmidt Rottluff who brought the art of the woodblock to Emil Nolde when he joined the Brücke group in 1905, just as Nolde had taught
27 | Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880 -1938 Portrait Karl Ernst Osthaus 25 | Erich Heckel 1883-1970 Etching on paper, 1915 Mann in der Ebene (Man on the Plain, Subject size: 15.7 x 16 cm Self-Portrait) Sheet size: 32.5 x 30 cm Woodcut on paper, 1917 Signed in pencil, a fine impression of this Subject size: 37.5 x 27 cm exceptionally rare print, inscribed ‘Eigendruck’. Sheet size: 69.5 x 55.4 cm Provenance: A fine impression, signed and dated in pencil, The impression the artist reserved for his own aside from the edition of 40 published in Elf collection, with the stamp ‘Unverkäuflich E.L Holzschnitte 1912 - 1919, by I B Neumann, Kirchner’ on the reverse, and the estate stamp. Berlin, 1921. Rarity: Literature: Gercken records only two examples of this work. Dube 305 this being the unique first state of two before One of Heckel’s most haunting psychological the plate was reduced in width. He knows of the Self Portraits. A projection of the effects of his second state impression only through an experiences in Flanders during the first world illustration in the monograph on Karl Ernst war. Osthaus, by Herta Hesse- Frielinghaus, 1974. Literature: Schiefler R 196; Dube R 203; Gercken 717 26 | Erich Heckel 1883-1970 Beim Vorlesen (Reading Aloud) Note: Woodcut on paper, 1914 Osthaus was a crucial figure in the Subject size: 30 x 20 cm development of the careers of many of the Sheet size: 50 x 35 cm leading Expressionist artists. He founded in 1902 On soft wove paper, a fine impression, signed the Folkwang Museum in Hagen (the museum and dated in pencil, signed also by the printer moved to Essen in 1922), which was the first Voigt, from the edition of 125 which was museum of modern art in Germany. This work published in Verlag der Dichtung (The Poetry will form part of the collection of the Museum publishing House) (25 of these were on Japan), Folkwang, Essen. with the blindstamp in the lower left margin. Literature: 28 | Erich Heckel 1883 – 1970 Dube H 272 Jüngling (Young Man) Heckel had a strong interest in literature, which Woodcut on paper, 1917 strengthened further when he moved to Subject size: 36 x 29.6 cm Berlin. The subject of reading aloud in particular Sheet size: 69.5 x 55.5 cm was important in his work, as he enjoyed this Signed and dated, an impression aside from the activity. The reader in this work is presumably his edition of forty. friend the art historian Walter Kaesbach, and the Literature: listener is Heckel’s future wife, Siddi. There is a Dube H310 II A (III.). related painting in the Stiftung Moritzburg Halle, and a watercolour in the Brücke Museum in 29 | Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 – 1976 Berlin. These works were presumably Christus (Christ) undertaken just before he went off to serve in Woodcut on paper, 1918 the war. Subject size: 50 x 39; Sheet size: 58.8 45.9 cm On Van Gelder laid paper signed in pencil, a good impression, presumably from the edition the artists the subtleties of etching.
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of 75, published in the portfolio 9 Holzschnitte, by Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich, 1918. Literature: Schapire H 208 30 | Karl Schmidt-Rottluff 1884 – 1976 Christus und Judas (Christ and Judas) Woodcut on paper, 1918 Subject size: 39.2 x 50 cm Sheet size: 50.7 x 65.6 cm On Van Gelder laid paper, signed in pencil, published in an edition of 75 by Verlag Kurt Wolff, Munich. Literature: Schapire H 218 This work is from the series 9 Holzschnitte depicting scenes from the life of Christ – largely the final days. These monumental works are reflection of the Expressionist artist’s reaction to the horrors of the First World War, and their looking toward Christianity for some form of understanding. Pechstein produced his celebrated series the Vaterunser at the same period.
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