Lot Essay
Männerbildnis is one of Heckel's best known and most important prints. Created during the months after the end of World War I, this self-portrait with its contemplative, gaunt features not only stands as a representation of the artist's own depressed state of mind, but also of a universal malaise.
When Heckel retreated to the rural quiet of Osterholz near Bremen in 1919 he was physically and emotionally weakened, and wrote to his friend and fellow artist Lyonel Feininger:
'Here everything is finally turning green. It is so good for us both [Heckel and his wife Siddi] to be able to live in the peace of this quiet simple country life. Nonetheless all those memories from the war years now emerge even more intensely in me again, but maybe they will lose their depressing effect in time' (Letter to L. Feininger, dated 15 May 1919, as cited in K. Gabler, Erich Heckel und sein Kreis: Dokumente, Fotos, Briefe, Schriften, Stuttgart and Zurich, 1983, cat.15, note 3, p.164).
The woodcut has been printed from two blocks by hand, and, as in most impressions of this print, the black drawing block is printed over the colour block. The three colours green, brown and blue were apparently brushed onto a plain woodblock which carried no design. The thick brush strokes are plainly visible in the background and enhance the free, painterly effect.
Männerbildnis is one of the most striking and moving prints by Erich Heckel and an icon of German Expressionist art.
When Heckel retreated to the rural quiet of Osterholz near Bremen in 1919 he was physically and emotionally weakened, and wrote to his friend and fellow artist Lyonel Feininger:
'Here everything is finally turning green. It is so good for us both [Heckel and his wife Siddi] to be able to live in the peace of this quiet simple country life. Nonetheless all those memories from the war years now emerge even more intensely in me again, but maybe they will lose their depressing effect in time' (Letter to L. Feininger, dated 15 May 1919, as cited in K. Gabler, Erich Heckel und sein Kreis: Dokumente, Fotos, Briefe, Schriften, Stuttgart and Zurich, 1983, cat.15, note 3, p.164).
The woodcut has been printed from two blocks by hand, and, as in most impressions of this print, the black drawing block is printed over the colour block. The three colours green, brown and blue were apparently brushed onto a plain woodblock which carried no design. The thick brush strokes are plainly visible in the background and enhance the free, painterly effect.
Männerbildnis is one of the most striking and moving prints by Erich Heckel and an icon of German Expressionist art.