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Master Prints and Drawings
Simon Theobald Ltd Spring 2013 37 Albemarle Street London W1S 4JF By appointment +44 (0)20 76290629 simon@simontheobald.com
Edvard Munch (1863 -‐ 1944)
Melancholie III
Woodcut printed in colours, 1902-‐17, on soft Japan, a very fine impression, signed in pencil, Woll’s ‘state‘ III 4 (of 7), Subject Size: 37.5 x 46.4 cm; Sheet size: 47 x 57.8 cm Literature: Gustav Schiefler, Verzeichnis des graphischen Werks Edvard Munchs, bis 1906, Berlin 1907, no. 144 Gerd Woll, Edvard Munch, The complete Graphic Works, London 2001, No. 203 III 4 Price on Request This monumental woodcut is one of the icons of the imagery of Edvard Munch. The theme of this work appears to have begun with an incident relating to his friend Jappe Nielsen, who, characteristic of Munch’s close-‐knit circle of friends was caught in a love triangle with Oda and Christian Krohg. One evening I walked alone along the seashore. It sighed and sucked around the stones. Long grey clouds streaked the horizon. It looked as if everything was dead – as in another world. A landscape of death. Life began over there by the landing stage. There was a man and a woman – and there came another man. With oars over his shoulder. And the boat was tied up down there – ready to leave. She resembled her. I felt it as a strong pain in my chest – if only she were here now. I know for sure she is far away – but nevertheless I recognise her movements. That ́s the way she used to stand. With her arm upon her hip. God – heavenly God. Have pity on me – please don ́t let it be her. There they are going down. She and he are going over to the island over there. In the pale summernight they will walk over there between the trees, arm in arm. The air is so soft. It must be wonderful to be in love now. The boat became smaller and smaller. The sound of the dipping oars could be heard across the surface of the sea. He was alone – the waves rolled up towards him monotonously – and it sucked and sighed between the stones. (Munch text in the Munch Museet, Oslo). Developing this subject through sketches, oils and an earlier woodcut, the work culminated in this powerful woodcut of 1902 which Munch continued to develop in striking colour combinations over the next few years.
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Max Beckmann Selbstbildnis mit steifem Hut (Self-‐Portrait in Bowler Hat)
Drypoint, 1921, on laid paper with watermark ‘BSB’, third state (of four), A fine impression, signed in pencil From the first edition of 50 before the removal of the background in the fourth state (there was an edition of 50 in the fourth state in 1922 or later) Plate Size: 32.3 x 24.6 cm; Sheet size: 49.7 x 33.8 cm Literature: Hofmeier 180 III B Price on Request Framed between a cat on the left and a Kerosene lamp on the right, the artist stands in his studio, dressed for the outdoors in dark bowler hat and suit. In his left hand he holds a cigarette. The artist stares out from the picture but not at the viewer. He is the self-‐absorbed outsider. Self-‐Portraits were important to the work of Max Beckmann, and the present work is probably the most striking amongst the artist’s graphic work.
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Erich Heckel (1883-‐1970) Beim Vorlesen (Reading Aloud)
Woodcut, 1914, on wove paper, signed and dated in pencil, from the edition of 125 which was published in Verlag der Dichtung (The Poetry publishing House) (25 of these were on Japan), with the blindstamp in the lower left margin Subject size. 30 x 20 cm; Sheet size. 50 x 35 cm Literature. Dube H 272 Price on Request Heckel had a strong interest in literature, which strengthened further when he moved to Berlin. The subject of reading aloud in particular was important in his work, as he enjoyed this activity. The reader in this work is presumably his friend the art historian Walter Kaesbach, and the listener is Heckel’s future wife, Siddi. There is a related painting in the Stiftung Moritzburg Halle, and a watercolour in the Brücke Museum in Berlin. These works were presumably undertaken just before he went off to serve in the war.
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Erich Heckel (1883-‐1970) Gegner (Opponents) Woodcut, 1912, on soft wove paper, a fine impression, signed and dated in pencil, from from an edition of unknown (but small) size Subject size. 325 x 24.3 cm; Sheet size. 57 x 45 cm Literature. Dube H 236 Price on Request Gegner is realted to the important painting Zwei Männer am Tisch of the same date and which is now in the Kunsthalle Hamburg. The composition of the woodcut is reversed. Two men are at a table on which there is a knife with a gleaming blade. Behind them on the wall is a picture of Christ Heckel was engrossed in the work of Dostoyevsky at this period, and this subject has been related both to The Brothers Karamazov and to The Idiot. Heckel was intrigued by the psychological complexities in Dostoyevsky’s work and the theme of two men with a knife between them was particularly compelling. In The Idiot (1869), Prince Myschkin and Parfyon Rogozhin who are in a triangular relationship with Nastassya Filippovna meet and despite their declarations of Brotherhood (beneath a Holbein painting of the Body of Christ in the Tomb) Rogozhin later attempts to stab Myschkin. Dostoyevsky was captivated by the Holbein painting. In 1867, his wife had to drag her husband away from the picture in case its grip on him induced an epileptic fit. Prince Myshkin, after viewing the painting in the home of Rogozhin, declares that it has the power to make the viewer lose his faith There is an impression of this woodcut in the Museum of Modern Art, New York
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Erich Heckel (1883-‐1970) Mädchen am Meer (Girl beside the Sea) Woodcut, 1918, on soft wove paper, a fine, black impression, signed and dated in pencil, aside from the edition of 40 published in Elf Holzschnitte (11 Woodcuts) Subject size. 46 x 32.5 cm; Sheet size. 69 x 55 cm Literature. Dube H 314 A Price on Request In 1921 the Berlin publisher gathered together 11 of Heckel’s woodcuts from the years 1912-‐1919 to publish in the monumental print portfolio Elf Holzschnitte. He series comprised some of the artist’s most striking woodcuts of these important years. Mädchen am Meer shows a primitive depiction of a woman within the context of a fractured and multifaceted landscape and sky exaggerating the contrast of black and white. Heckel painted a similar compostion in oil at the same date (Vogt 1918, 4, listed as ‘whereabouts unknown’) The format recalls the early German woodcuts of the Masters like Albrecht Dürer whom were greatly admired by the Brücke artists.
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Erich Heckel (1883-‐1970) Mann in der Ebene (Man on the plane-‐ Self Portrait) Woodcut, 1917, on soft wove paper, a fine impression, signed and dated in pencil, aside from the edition of 40 published in Elf Holzschnitte 1912-‐ 1919, by I B Neumann, Berlin, 1921 Subject size. 37.5 x 27 cm; Sheet size. 69.5 x 55.4 cm Literature. Dube H 305 Price on Request One of Heckel’s most haunting psychological Self Portraits. A projection of the effects of his experiences in Flanders during the first world war.
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Erich Heckel (1883-‐1970) Am Strand (On the Shore) Woodcut, 1923, on wove paper, a good impression, signed in pencil, from the edition of 220 (there were a further 80 on Japan) which was published in Kunst der Gegenwart (Contemporary Art), by the Marées Gesellschaft, Munich, with the blindstamp in the lower right margin Subject size. 40.8 x 26.4 cm; Sheet size. 52 x 36 cm Literature. Dube H 336 III B Price on Request Am Strand is a beautifully composed woodcut, carved with a delicate sense of the balance of the contrasting passages of black and white, and achieving a harmonious and idyllic motif. The subject of bathers on the beach was particularly important to Heckel in the years 1919-‐21 though this woodcut is not related to any specific known painting. The Marées-‐Gesellschaft (1919-‐1929) was a bibliophile and art society founded in 1917 as a collaboration between influential art historian and critic Julius Meier-‐Graefe and avant-‐garde publisher Reinhard Piper.
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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-‐1938) Stafelalp
Woodcut, 1917, on firm ‘Blotting paper’, an extraordinarily fine, rich and black impression of this rare print (printed in an edition of unknown – but very small-‐ size), signed in pencil and inscribed ‘Handdruck’ (printed by the artist), with margins at top and bottom, printed to the edge of the sheet on the other two sides as is frequent with Kirchner’s large-‐scale woodcuts of this period Subject size. 34 x 55.5 cm Sheet size. 42.5 x 56 cm Literature. Dube H 301 Price on Request One of the most magnificent of Kirchner’s landscape woodcuts. Kirchner spent the summer of 1917 on the Stafelalp above Frauenkirch, near Davos in the home of the Rüesch family. The landscape became an important feature of the artist’s work. Some of his most monumental woodcuts were produced in these early years in Switzerland.
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Otto Mueller (1874 – 1930) Drei Mädchen vor dem Spiegel Lithograph, 1922, Signed in pencil, numbered from the edition of 50 Subject size: 35 x 25.5 cm Literature: Karsch 124 Price on Request Otto Mueller was born in Liebau, Silesia (now Poland). He began his training at the age of sixteen as apprentice to a lithographer in Gorlitz. In 1894 he enrolled at the Academy of Art in Dresden, where he studied for two years. Mueller remained near Dresden until 1908, but did not meet any of the artists affiliated with the Brucke until 1910, two years after his move to Berlin. It was then, after having his work rejected for inclusion in the Berlin Secession exhibition, that he joined Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein in founding the Neue Secession. These artists, along with other members of the Brucke, exhibited their work in an alternative exhibition, "Rejects of the Berlin Secession." Mueller's images of nudes in nature, for which he is best known, caught the attention of the Brucke artists. He was invited to join the group, and he remained affiliated until its dissolution in 1913. Mueller travelled extensively in Eastern Europe during the 1920s and his art of the period reflects his fascination with the region's gypsy culture. Drei Mädchen vor dem Spiegel is a quintessential example of the artist’s beautiful nude subjects.
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Max Pechstein (1881-‐1955) Netzzieher (Dragging in the nets) Woodcut, 1907, on wove paper, a very fine impression of this very rare print, signed and dated in pen and ink, titled in crayon, Sheet size: 12.5 x 19.8 cm; Subject size: 27 x 37.7 cm Literature: Krüger H 60 Price on Request Krüger knew of only two impressions of this print, including the present one. This work was probably made during Pechstein’s stay in Paris. It is printed in the reverse of an old portrait engraving he probably acquired there. The other known example was in Heckel’s private collection and is now in the Brücke Museum, Berlin
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Max Pechstein (1881-‐1955) Zwiesprache (Dialogue) Woodcut printed in colours, 1920, on laid paper, signed and dated in pencil, apparently from an edition of 120, published by Euphorion Verlag, Berlin Sheet size: 53.2 x 40.4 cm ; Subject size: 40.2 x 32 cm Literature: Krüger H228, Fechter W162 Price on Request We are grateful to Iris Schweiger, New York for details of the edition size of this print, given to her by Kunstarchiv Werner J. Schweiger, Vienna and taken from the 1923 sales catalogue of the Euphorion-‐Verlag Max Pechstein was one of the founding members of the Brücke Group, based first in Dresden then in Berlin. He was the only member with a formal education in art. Later in Berlin he helped to found the Neue Sezession and gained recognition for his decorative and colourful paintings that were influenced by the ideas of Van Gogh, Matisse, and the Fauves. His paintings eventually became more primitive, like Kirchner’s, incorporating thick black lines and angular figures. Pechstein was a professor at the Berlin Academy for ten years before his dismissal by the Nazis in 1933, only to be reinstated in 1945. This is one of the finest examples of Pechstein’s very rare colour woodcuts, and portrays an idyllic scene featuring a man and a woman in nature, a theme very popular with the Brücke artists. There is an example of this print in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
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Max Pechstein (1881-‐1955) Kind auf der Bank (Child sitting on a bench) lithograph. 1908, on wove paper, a fine impression of this very rare print, signed and dated in pencil, numbered ‘6’, from an edition of unknown (but very small) size Subject size: 40.2 x 32 cm; Sheet size: 53.2 x 40.4 cm Literature: Krüger l37 Price on Request This is a proof in a single colour, handcoloured or monotype coloured prints are known, as well as prints with additional red, yellow and blue.
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Max Beckmann (1884-‐1950) Der Ausrufer (Selbstbildnis) (The Barker, Self-‐Portrait)
Drypoint, 1921, 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, with margins, slight paper discolouration, generally in good condition Subject size. 33.5 x 25.6 cm; Sheet size. c 55 x 38 cm Literature: Hofmaier 191 B a Price on Request Plate 1 from the set of ten prints for Der Jarhmarkt (Annual Fair) Heather Hess writes of the series for which this is the opening drypoint: ‘Max Beckmann imagines the world as a carnival in this portfolio. On the title page, he casts himself as a barker for a travelling 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, New York, German Expressionist Digital Archive Project, German Expressionism: Works from the Collection. 2011.
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Hanna Nagel (1907-‐1975) Anna (bei Hubbuch) Lithographic crayon and watercolour on paper, April 1929 Signed and dated lower centre Sheet size: 37.9 x 26 cm Price on Request Hanna Nagel was the daughter of a businessman and a teacher. Her father’s death at an early age affected her greatly. At 18 she attended the Landeskunstschule in Karlsruhe where she studied 1925-‐9 under Karl Hubbuch and others. Three years later she moved to Berlin to study under Emil Orlik and Hans Meid. In 1931 she married Hans Fischer. She won the Rome Prize and moved to Rome 1933-‐4, then returned to Germany where some of her works were listed as degenerate. During the war she both worked in a factory and drew illustrations for Biology books. The bombing of Karlruhe destroyed much of her early work. After the war she lived in Heidelberg again and leaving her husband spent the next years drawing and producing book illustrations and trying to make a living to support her mother and daughter. She died aged 67 in Heidelberg.
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