.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Second only to Picasso, Kirchner was the most prolific printmaker among the German Expressionists, creating over two-thousand graphic works. He began experimenting with printmaking in 1903-04 when he was only twenty one, and over the course of his career tirelessly explored the possibilities of the woodcut, the etching and the lithograph. His graphic works preceded the evolution of his painting style; during his Dresden period (1905-1911) the simplification and abbrevation of forms of his prints led to similar motifs in his paintings.
Kirchner was profoundly interested in the process of the creation of a work of art. The unique possibilities of the woodblock, the copper plate and the lithographic stone appealed to him tremendously; he was a great experimenter and printed all of his plates himself. He especially enjoyed the advancement of a print from the early to the final state. Early in his career, under the pseudonym Louis de Marsalle, Kirchner daringly published an article promoting his own graphic work. In this article, he proclaimed that devotion to craftsmanship is a prerequisite for the artist who worked in printmaking, and that it was absolutely necessary that the artist pull the proofs himself, rather than entrusting the task to skilled technician. Kirchner practiced his own advice; he often printed only a few impressions of each state, and at times only pulled a single impression.
Kirchner made his first lithographs in 1906 and continued working in the medium up until a year before his death in 1938. With its subtle washes of luminous, shimmering colours, Dodo mit japanischem Schirm reflects the artist's virtuosity as a printmaker. The young model, Doris Große - whom Kirchner affectionately nicknamed Dodo - appeared on countless occasions in his graphic oeuvre. It is not known when the artist met Dodo, when and how they parted, or what eventually happened to her. As Kirchner's Davos diary reveals, it is clear that she had a profound impact both on his artistic and personal life. One somewhat melancholy entry reads: 'You gave me the power to speak of your beauty in the purest image of womanhood.' Indeed, this lithograph is evocative of brilliant sunlight surrounding a young model with a parasol on a summer day - such expressiveness in colour printmaking has never been surpassed.
Kirchner was profoundly interested in the process of the creation of a work of art. The unique possibilities of the woodblock, the copper plate and the lithographic stone appealed to him tremendously; he was a great experimenter and printed all of his plates himself. He especially enjoyed the advancement of a print from the early to the final state. Early in his career, under the pseudonym Louis de Marsalle, Kirchner daringly published an article promoting his own graphic work. In this article, he proclaimed that devotion to craftsmanship is a prerequisite for the artist who worked in printmaking, and that it was absolutely necessary that the artist pull the proofs himself, rather than entrusting the task to skilled technician. Kirchner practiced his own advice; he often printed only a few impressions of each state, and at times only pulled a single impression.
Kirchner made his first lithographs in 1906 and continued working in the medium up until a year before his death in 1938. With its subtle washes of luminous, shimmering colours, Dodo mit japanischem Schirm reflects the artist's virtuosity as a printmaker. The young model, Doris Große - whom Kirchner affectionately nicknamed Dodo - appeared on countless occasions in his graphic oeuvre. It is not known when the artist met Dodo, when and how they parted, or what eventually happened to her. As Kirchner's Davos diary reveals, it is clear that she had a profound impact both on his artistic and personal life. One somewhat melancholy entry reads: 'You gave me the power to speak of your beauty in the purest image of womanhood.' Indeed, this lithograph is evocative of brilliant sunlight surrounding a young model with a parasol on a summer day - such expressiveness in colour printmaking has never been surpassed.