tefaf maastricht 2019 stand 444 ernst ludwig kirchner, erich heckel ... - henze … ·...

GALERIE HENZE & KETTERER & TRIEBOLD GALERIE HENZE & KETTERER AG Wettsteinstrasse 4 – CH 4125 Riehen Kirchstrasse 26 - CH 3114 Wichtrach/Bern Tel. +41/61/641 77 77 – Fax: +41/61/641 77 78 Tel. +41/31/781 06 01 - Fax: +41/31/781 07 22 www.henze-ketterer.ch – [email protected] www.henze-ketterer.ch – [email protected]

TEFAF Maastricht 2019 – Stand 444

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel and Emil Nolde during WWI.

We will set a special focus on the influence of the great war on the oeuvre of these three „Brücke“ artists. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was «for unknown reasons not conscripted for obligatory training as a soldier». Kirchner therefore «volunteered involuntarily», as he himself wrote, as a driver for the artillery and in July 1915 was assigned as a recruit to a regiment of the field artillery in Halle an der Saale. However, the drill and the entire circumstances of his training demanded much too much of Kirchner and by the end of that same month he was granted a lengthy period of convalescence. Kirchner made this an opportunity to do a small yet highly intense series of paintings, in which he depicted and reflected upon what he had just experienced. These paintings include the enigmatic and much-studied paintings «Selbstbildnis als Soldat» (Gordon 435) and «Artilleriesoldaten» (Gordon 434), “Soldatenbad” (1915) as well as «Der Rote Turm in Halle» (Gordon 436) – Kirchner’s monument to that time –, two paintings depicting soldiers on horseback (Kirchner undoubtedly liked horses) and two further genre painting of the time, namely «Offizier und Kellnerin» (1915) and “Hugo” (1914). Erich Heckel was stationed in Belgium (Ostende) during World War I with a Red Cross medical corps headed by art historian Walter Kaesbach, who ensured Heckel continued to paint and make prints. While there Heckel became close with James Ensor and met Max Beckmann. In 1918 he returned to Berlin and joined socialist artists’ organizations, including the Novembergruppe. During war and postwar years he created many portraits, self-portraits, and landscapes embodying spiritual isolation and melancholy. Emil Nolde strangely enough did not react to WWI in his work. In 1915 he produced 88 paintings, including religious motifs such as “Burial”, and paintings from sketches he had done in the South Seas. In 1916 the couple moved to Utenwarf on the west coast. Nolde just kept out of trouble!

On the following pages you will find images and details of the works for Tefaf Maastricht 2019:

mailto:[email protected]


1. Erich Heckel Zwei Verwundete (Two wounded Men). Woodcut, 1914. On japan-paper. Impression out of the print-edition. Signed and dated on the lower right. 42,5 x 28 cm on 61,3 x 44,9 cm. Dube H 276 II A Remarks: The woodcut appeared in the edition of 40 copies in the map "Elf Holzschnitte, 1912-1919, Erich Heckel bei I. B. Neumann", Berlin 1921. Erich Heckel was stationed in Belgium (Ostende) during World War I with a Red Cross medical corps headed by art historian Walter Kaesbach, who ensured Heckel continued to paint and make prints. While there Heckel became close with James Ensor and met Max Beckmann. In 1918 he returned to Berlin and joined socialist artists’ organizations, including the Novembergruppe. During war and postwar years he created many portraits, self-portraits, and landscapes embodying spiritual isolation and melancholy. Erich Heckel volunteered for military service at the beginning of the First World War but was not conscripted owing to a surplus of volunteers. He then undertook training as a medical orderly in Berlin and received his certificate in October 1914, but he was not drafted into the medical service before the end of the year, which left him with plenty of time for his art. Heckel’s woodcut “Zwei Verwundete” (Two Wounded Soldiers) must have been produced during this waiting period. Heckel had also produced this motif as a pen and brush drawing, mirror-inverted, and it was possibly this drawing that served as the model for the woodcut. This drawing is today kept at the Brücke-Museum in Berlin (Aya Soika: „Weltenbruch – Die Künstler der Brücke im Ersten Weltkrieg 1914-1918“, Munich 2014, p. 30). This woodcut certainly expresses Heckel’s mood at the time, namely his dissatisfaction with having to idle the time away just thinking about the new duties that await him. In a letter dated 19th October 1914 to Gustav Schiefler’s wife Luise, he writes: “I would have gladly helped and experienced these vivid impressions at first hand, but, things being as they are, I have completely buried myself in my work in my search for serious and lively expression.” Obj. Id: 77139



2. Erich Heckel Verwundeter (Wounded Man). Pen in ink, 1915. On chamois paper. Signed and dated on the lower right. With the collector's stamp Alfred Hess, Erfurt (Lugt 2796 a) on the verso. 42,8 x 33 cm. Remarks: Erich Heckel volunteered for military service at the beginning of the First World War but was not conscripted owing to a surplus of volunteers. He then undertook training as a medical orderly in Berlin and received his certificate in October 1914, but he was not drafted into the medical service before the end of the year, which left him with plenty of time for his art. In 1915 Erich Heckel was posted as a medical orderly to the legendary medical unit formed by museum director Walter Kaesbach primarily from artist friends (amongst others Max Beckmann, Anton Kerschbaumer, Heinrich Nauen und Otto Herbig), whom he was able to keep away from direct action and planned their duty roster in such a way that they always had plenty of time for their art. Heckel was one of the few artists who directly expressed their war experiences in their work. This drawing comes from the famous art collection of the shoe manufacturer Alfred Hess in Erfurt, who until 1930 owned one of the most comprehensive and important collections of German Expressionism. Obj. Id: 76411



3. Erich Heckel Verwundeter (Der barmherzige Samariter)(The Good Samaritan). Woodcut, 1915. On ribbed hand-made paper with watermark: Tower. One of the few impressions of this print pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower right, marked "Ostende 15" on the lower left and "Der Gute Samariter" on the lower center. 37,5 x 27,5 on 55,7 x 38,8 cm. Dube H 291. Remarks: Middle sheet of the triptych "The Good Samaritan" (Dube 290-292). This woodcut is extremely rare. Erich Heckel volunteered for military service at the beginning of the First World War but was not conscripted owing to a surplus of volunteers. He then undertook training as a medical orderly in Berlin and received his certificate in October 1914, but he was not drafted into the medical service before the end of the year, which left him with plenty of time for his art. In 1915 Erich Heckel was posted as a medical orderly to the legendary medical unit formed by museum director Walter Kaesbach primarily from artist friends (amongst others Max Beckmann, Anton Kerschbaumer, Heinrich Nauen und Otto Herbig), whom he was able to keep away from direct action and planned their duty roster in such a way that they always had plenty of time for their art. Heckel was one of the few artists who directly expressed their war experiences in their work. Obj. Id: 67962



4. Erich Heckel Irrer Soldat (Insane Soldier). Lithograph, 1916. Dube L 232 II On ribbed hand-made paper with watermark: Van Gelder Zonen-Bütten. Print from the edition. Signed on the lower right, dated on the lower left and marked "Ostend". 30,1 x 24,1 auf 50,5 x 35,4 cm. Remarks: 50 copies on hand-made paper printed by the editor Paul Cassirer, Berlin 1920. Erich Heckel volunteered for military service at the beginning of the First World War but was not conscripted owing to a surplus of volunteers. He then undertook training as a medical orderly in Berlin and received his certificate in October 1914, but he was not drafted into the medical service before the end of the year, which left him with plenty of time for his art. In 1915 Erich Heckel was posted as a medical orderly to the legendary medical unit formed by museum director Walter Kaesbach primarily from artist friends (amongst others Max Beckmann, Anton Kerschbaumer, Heinrich Nauen und Otto Herbig), whom he was able to keep away from direct action and planned their duty roster in such a way that they always had plenty of time for their art. Heckel was one of the few artists who directly expressed their war experiences in their work. Obj. Id: 75223



5. Erich Heckel Krüppel am Meer (Cripple at the Sea). Lithograph, 1916. Dube L 236 IV On ribbed chamois hand-made paper. Print of the edition. Signed and dated on the lower right. 26,2 x 21,5 auf 51 x 35,2 cm. Remarks: 50 copies on hand-made paper printed by the Editor Paul Cassirer, Berlin 1920. Erich Heckel volunteered for military service at the beginning of the First World War but was not conscripted owing to a surplus of volunteers. He then undertook training as a medical orderly in Berlin and received his certificate in October 1914, but he was not drafted into the medical service before the end of the year, which left him with plenty of time for his art. In 1915 Erich Heckel was posted as a medical orderly to the legendary medical unit formed by museum director Walter Kaesbach primarily from artist friends (amongst others Max Beckmann, Anton Kerschbaumer, Heinrich Nauen und Otto Herbig), whom he was able to keep away from direct action and planned their duty roster in such a way that they always had plenty of time for their art. Heckel was one of the few artists who directly expressed their war experiences in their work. Obj. Id: 75224



6. Erich Heckel Ostende, Casino Watercolour, 1917. On velin. Signed and dated on the lower right. 43 x 30 cm. Shortly after Heckel’s death on 27th January 1970, Roman Norbert Ketterer received this watercolour from Siddi Heckel for the planned Hecker memorial exhibition (and catalogue) in Campione d'Italia in the summer of that same year. However, Roman Norbert Ketterer purchased the watercolour for his own collection and did not offer it for sale in the exhibition. Heckel’s watercolour shows a part of the second casino building in Ostend, which was built around 1900, with a view of the sea to the left. Erich Heckel served in the First World War as an orderly in a medical platoon, which the museum director Walter Kaesbach had assembled primarily from artist friends. Between the years of 1915 and 1918 the war took the platoon to Flanders, Roeselare, Ghent and, above all, Ostend. In February 1917 Heckel initiated building operations for an extension to the casualty collection point in Ostend, this being a dug-out at the city’s railway station. He also visited James Ensor, who lived in Ostend. Walter Kaesbach was very clever inasmuch as he planned the duty roster for his artist-orderlies in such a way that they always had plenty of time for their art. Heckel was one of the few artists who directly expressed their war experiences in their work, even the most dreadful ones. Nonetheless, Hecker was also able to devote himself to other, more peaceful subject matter, such as this urban landscape on the Ostend coast. Obj. Id: 66375



7. Erich Heckel

Roquairol (Bildnis Ernst Ludwig Kirchner). (Portrait Ernst Ludwig

Kirchner).

Woodcut on soft vat paper, 1917.

One of very few known prints pulled by the artist. Signed,

dated as well as titled on the lower right.

31,6 x 24,2 on 70,5 x 55,8 cm.

Dube H 308 II.

Erich Heckel, after hearing that his friend Kirchner wasn’t doing well, presents him here as Roquairol (a dramatic figure in Jean Paul’s novel Der Titan). See also the painting of the same name (Vogt 1917/02) as well as the painting «Der Freund» (Vogt 1917/03). This woodcut composition of a bowed head with an incoherent gaze Heckel transformed by inverting left and right for the 1922/23 «Die Trennung» on a columnar wall in his Stefan-George cycle at the Anger Museum in Erfurt. Obj. Id: 76988



Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Porträt Hugo (Portrait Hugo). Oil on canvas, 1914. Gordon 0415. 60 x 50 cm With the estate-stamp and the numbering 'KN-Be/Ba 5' on the verso. Please scroll down for further details. The head-and-shoulders portrait is that of Hugo Biallowons (1879 Sensburg – Verdun 1916), forest supervisor and life companion of Botho Graef, Professor of Archeology and Art History in Jena. Here in our painting 'Hugo', also a close friend of Kirchner’s, since 1914, is already portrayed in the uniform that was to be his fate. Hugo Biallowons models for Kirchner on various occasions as for the paintings "Tanz zwischen zwei Frauen" (Dance between the women) (see Gordon 443).When Hugo was killed at Verdun in 1916, Kirchner was devastated. Botho Graef (1857 Berlin – Königstein 1917) died of a broken heart only a few months after Hugo’s death in action. Kirchner had lost one of the few pillars of stability in the maelstrom of the Second World War. This loss was also a reason for Kirchner’s nervous breakdown shortly afterwards that lead him into several hospitals and finally to Switzerland. In this so sad and wearing period, Kirchner created some of his most remarkable and important paintings in spite of his existential fear. Obj. Id: 64110



8. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Kokotte bei Nacht (Cocotte in the Night). Lithograph, 1914. Dube L 247 II On satinierted chamois paper. The only known impression of this print, pulled by the artist. 26,8 x 21,5 auf 44,2 x 37 cm. With the estate-stamp and the numbering "L 236 II" in ink as well as the numbers "K 3240", "2864" and "1555“ in pencil on the verso. The subject of a Berlin street scene is the most celebrated theme in Kirchner's work (figs. 1-6) and represents one of the most iconic images of German Expressionism. Kirchner first visited Berlin in 1910 and moved there from Dresden in 1911 to join other artists of the Brücke group. The vibrant life of the metropolis provided him with a totally new and stimulating experience, contrasting both with his time in Dresden and his summer vacations in Fehmarn. The move to Berlin profoundly influenced both Kirchner's subject matter and style. Promenading figures provided his main subject-matter, rendered in an increasingly elongated manner, with the energetic, diagonal hatching that became the hallmark of his mature expressionist painting. As Edward Lucie-Smith wrote: 'Kirchner was indeed producing some of his best work of this epoch, notably the hallucinatory Berlin street scenes featuring prostitutes which give a strong impression of the feverish atmosphere of the German capital just before and just after the beginning of the war' (E. Lucie-Smith, Lives of the Twentieth Century Artists, London, n.d., p. 62). Obj. Id: 79877



9. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Offizier und Kellnerin (Officer and Waitress). Oil on canvas, 1915. On the verso with the estate-stamp and numbered "KN-Be/Bi 6". 95 x 82 cm Gordon 431. The year 1915 was one of both trauma and triumph for Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. On account of his enlistment in the army and the subsequent psychological collapse that the war and military service would provoke in him, Kirchner painted comparatively few paintings in 1915. Of the works that he did paint in this year however, several are outright masterpieces while many of the others rank among the finest works of his entire career. Although Kirchner had already been released from military service in September 1915 for health reasons, the theme of the horse had left a strong mark on his oeuvre during those months. As Eberhard W. Kornfeld wrote in his account of Kirchner’s time as a soldier in the First World War, Kirchner was «for unknown reasons not conscripted for obligatory training as a soldier». Kirchner therefore «volunteered involuntarily», as he himself wrote, as a driver for the artillery and in July 1915 was assigned as a recruit to a regiment of the field artillery in Halle an der Saale. However, the drill and the entire circumstances of his training demanded much too much of Kirchner and by the end of that same month he was granted a lengthy period of convalescence. Kirchner made this an opportunity to do a small yet highly intense series of paintings, in which he depicted and reflected upon what he had just experienced. These paintings include the enigmatic and much-studied paintings «Selbstbildnis als Soldat» (Gordon 435) and «Artilleriesoldaten» (Gordon 434), as well as «Der Rote Turm in Halle» (Gordon 436) – Kirchner’s monument to that time –, two paintings depicting soldiers on horseback (Kirchner undoubtedly loved horses) and a further genre painting of the time, namely «Offizier und Kellnerin». Coming from the right, a waitress enters and dominates the right-hand half of the painting. She is carrying a tray, which she offers to the officer on the left. The tray marks the very centre of the painting. The officer – recognizable as a cavalry officer by his riding boots and the leather trim of his riding breeches – stands full-height on the far left-hand side of the painting, his arms held straight and tight against his body. Entering from the right, behind the waitress, is a second, identically uniformed officer – or perhaps it is the reflection of the first officer in a mirror. Visible between the two figures – the officer and the waitress – in the bottom half of the painting is a table covered with a white tablecloth onto which the waitress evidently intends to place the tray. Nonetheless, the situation is not all that clear. Nor are the happenings in the background, where a small group of soldiers behind and to the right of a small fir tree are doing gymnastic exercises, while two figures emerge from the colonnade that both traverses and cuts off the background and begin to run towards us, the viewers, along the path that wends its way left of the fir tree towards the middle foreground. Most important are here these two small figures in the background. Kirchner seems to look back to his “Strassenszenen” (Street-Scenes) for a last time. The officer’s uniform and the waitress’s dress are green, the apron and tablecloth various shades of white, while the entire composition is dominated by strong, various shades of violet – a wonderfully differentiated resonance of colours. Quite possibly Kirchner has here memorialized his benefactor Hans Fehr, who had discharged him from military service in October 1915 in order that he could undergo medical treatment. Fehr, a Bernese university professor but with a chair at the University of Jena at that time, was also a friend of Emil Nolde. Perhaps Fehr has invited Kirchner to partake of a small meal with him, in which case it is indeed Kirchner who has entered the scene from the right. It was undoubtedly Kirchner’s experience of the particular quality of the lighting and the mood it generated that inspired him to create this superb, dominantly violet composition.

Obj. Id: 64926



10. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Bildnis Professor Botho Graef (Portrait Professor Botho Graef). Pencil, 1915. On chamois paper. 30,2 x 23,3 cm. With the estate-stamp and the numbering "B Be/Ba 52" in ink and the numbers "C 2781 und "K2248" in ink and pencil, as well as "1873" in pencil on the verso. Graef was part of the Jena academic world with which Kirchner was associated between 1914 and 1916. Graef was a professor of archaeology and an art historian who greatly admired Kirchner, and bought several of the artist's works. 'What Graef treasured in my work was its frank sensuousness and its unbroken development and autonomy; [...] something new which, through the unconfined conception of life there expressed, connected it for him with antiquity' (E.L. Kirchner, in 'Die Arbeit E.L. Kirchners', quoted in D. E. Gordon, op. cit., p. 26). Obj. Id: 65576



11. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Hugo Lithograph, 1915. On strong, satinated chamois paper. One of the 10 known impressions of this print by the artist. On the verso a further lithograph: "Hugo, am Tisch liegend", 1915, Dube L 277 and with the estate-stamp "L 262 II / 230 I" in ink and numbered "K 3417", "3041" and "19" in pencil. 58,5 x 50,4 on 65 x 40 cm. Dube L 281.

Hugo Biallowons models for Kirchner on various occasions as for the paintings "Tanz zwischen zwei Frauen" (Dance between the women) (see Gordon 443).When Hugo was killed at Verdun in 1916, Kirchner was devastated. Botho Graef (1857 Berlin – Königstein 1917), Hugos companion died of a broken heart only a few months after Hugo’s death in action. Kirchner had lost one of the few pillars of stability in the maelstrom of the Second World War. This loss was also a reason for Kirchner’s nervous breakdown shortly afterwards that lead him into several hospitals and finally to Switzerland. “Head and shoulders portrait of a man in military uniform (slightly turned towards his left). The head is lowered slightly. The left hand holds a cigarette at chest height. Epaulets, corporal’s stripes and collar braids. Rising from the bridge of the nose and crossing the frown lines are a vertical wrinkle and curved wrinkles on either side. A blunt chin. Behind the head is a cushion on the backrest of the armchair. The distance between the burning tip of the cigarette and the tip of the nose measures 270 mm.” These two lithographs - “Hugo” and, verso, “Hugo Reclining at the Table” were produced virtually one after the other, although the order in which they were printed is not known. Both prints were pulled from the same lithographic stone, which means that the prints of the first lithograph had to be printed in their entirety before the stone was ground and polished for the second lithograph. Both lithographs were printed in Berlin during a visit from Hugo Biallowons and Botho Graef to Kirchner’s studio in 1915. The head-and-shoulders portrait is that of Hugo Biallowons (1879 Sensburg – Verdun 1916), forest supervisor and life companion of Botho Graef, Professor of Archeology and Art History in Jena. Here "Hugo", also a close friend of Kirchner’s, is already portrayed in the uniform that was to be his fate. Botho Graef (1857 Berlin – Königstein 1917) died of a broken heart only a few months after “Hugo’s” death in action. As for Kirchner, he was devastated, for he had lost one of the few pillars of stability in the maelstrom of the Second World War. This loss was also a reason for Kirchner’s nervous breakdown shortly afterwards that lead him into several hospitals and finally to Switzerland. Obj. Id: 79880



12. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Kopf Hugo im Profil (Head Hugo in Profile). Lithograph, 1915. Dube L 282 II On satinated chamois paper. One of 4 known prints pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower right and marked "Handdruck" by Kirchner. 59,5 x 50,4 auf 65,5 x 56,5 cm. With the stamp "Unverkäuflich E.L. Kirchner" (unsaleable) as well as the estate-stamp and the numbering "L 283 II" in ink as well as the numbers "K.10289 " and "C 2004" in ink and pencil and the number „279“ in pencil on the verso. Hugo Biallowons models for Kirchner on various occasions as for the paintings "Tanz zwischen zwei Frauen" (Dance between the women) (see Gordon 443).When Hugo was killed at Verdun in 1916, Kirchner was devastated. Botho Graef (1857 Berlin – Königstein 1917), Hugos companion died of a broken heart only a few months after Hugo’s death in action. Kirchner had lost one of the few pillars of stability in the maelstrom of the Second World War. This loss was also a reason for Kirchner’s nervous breakdown shortly afterwards that lead him into several hospitals and finally to Switzerland. Obj. Id: 79881

13. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Soldatenmusterung (Military Medical Examination). Lithograph, 1915. Dube L 297 On satinated yellow paper. One of 2 known prints pulled by the artist. 36 x 31,5 auf 60 x 43 cm. Signed on the lower right and marked "Handdruck" on the lower left. With 2 round ELK-stamps as well as the stamps of Kunstverein Jena and Galerie Ferdinand Möller and with the hand-written notion "erworben lt. Vertrag 1940" (acquired according contract 1940) on the verso. Obj. Id: 79883



14. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Flussübergang der Reiter (Cavalrymen crossing River). Lithograph, 1915. On satinated chamois paper. One of 5 known prints pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower right in pencil. On the verso with the estate-stamp and marked "L 273 I" as well as numbered "K 3330" and "C 3988" in ink and pencil and "295(4 or 1 ?)" only in pencil. 26,8 x 21,4 cm on 35 x 32 cm. Dube L 301 I. Earlier catalogues raisonnés: Schiefler L 267, with the following description by Kirchner and Schiefler: “On the right of the foreground a rider in uniform on standing horse (from the side to the left). The right hand holds the reins, the left arm is elevated; carabine along the left tigh. On the lower left corner the curve of the rivers shore, whereto the troop is moving in pairs. Close to the left margin the crowns of low trees; close to the right margin two standing figures. Strongly composed, very dense illustration and therefore not easy to recognize at first glance.“ The year 1915 was one of both trauma and triumph for Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. On account of his enlistment in the army and the subsequent psychological collapse that the war and military service would provoke in him, Kirchner painted comparatively few paintings in 1915. Of the works that he did paint in this year however, several are outright masterpieces while many of the others rank among the finest works of his entire career. Although Kirchner had already been released from military service in September 1915 for health reasons, the theme of the horse had left a strong mark on his oeuvre during those months. Obj. Id: 79886



15. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Reiter durch eine Schlucht reitend (Cavalrymen crossing Canyon). Lithograph, 1915. On satinated bright chamois paper. One of the 5 known impressions of this print pulled by the artist. With the estate-stamp and marked "L 287 III" in ink as well as numbered "K 3337 " and "2961" in pencil on the verso. 21,5 x 26,8 cm on 29,5 x 36,5 cm. Dube L 304. Earlier catalogues raisonnés: Schiefler L 267, with the following description by Kirchner and Schiefler: “Two cavalrymen with light-coloured uniforms and peaked caps on dark-coloured horses (viewed from rear) passing a bend. On the right a number of pedestrians on the footpath. In the background clouds and embankments flanking the roadway.” Although Kirchner had already been released from military service in September 1915 for health reasons, the theme of the horse had left a strong mark on his oeuvre during those months. Further impressions of this lithograph are to be found in the following collections: Kirchner Museum Davos; formerly Botho Graef Foundation, Jena. Obj. Id: 79879

16. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Zwei Reiter auf dem Hof (Two Cavalrymen in the Yard). Lithograph, 1915. Dube L 306 II On chamois paper. One of the 3 known impressions of this print pulled by the artist. Signed and dated on the lower right in pencil and marked "Handdruck". 27 x 21,5 auf 46 x 30,3 cm. With the estate-stamp and marked "255 I" in ink as well as the numbers "K 3339" and „296(2?)“ in pencil on the verso. Obj. Id: 79884



17. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Hugo Biallowons. Woodcut, 1916. Dube H 277 On thin board. Auf Halbkarton. One of the 6 known impressions of this print pulled by the artist. 46 x 35,2 auf 57 x 38,5 cm. With the estate-stamp and marked "H 582 III“ as well as the number "K 9879 in pencil on the verso. Hugo Biallowons models for Kirchner on various occasions as for the paintings "Tanz zwischen zwei Frauen" (Dance between the women) (see Gordon 443).When Hugo was killed at Verdun in 1916, Kirchner was devastated. Botho Graef (1857 Berlin – Königstein 1917), Hugos companion died of a broken heart only a few months after Hugo’s death in action. Kirchner had lost one of the few pillars of stability in the maelstrom of the Second World War. This loss was also a reason for Kirchner’s nervous breakdown shortly afterwards that lead him into several hospitals and finally to Switzerland Obj. Id: 79873

18. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Kopf Kohnstamm (Head Kohnstamm). Lithograph, 1916. Dube L 287 IV On satinated chamois paper. One of the 6 known impressions of this print pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower right. 42,3 x 31,7 auf 45,6 x 35 cm. With the estate-stamp and marked "L 292 V" in inkk as well as the numbers "K 3422" and "3046 in pencil on the verso. In December 1915 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was admitted to Dr. Kohnstamm’s sanatorium in Königstein in Taunus, where he was diagnosed with a strong dependency on Veronal, and alcoholism. In a letter to Dr. Karl Hagemann, a friend and patron, Kirchner writes: "After lengthy struggles I now find myself here for a time to put my mind into some kind of order. It is a terribly difficult thing, of course, to be among strangers so much of the day. But perhaps I’ll be able to see and create something new. For the time being, I would like more peace and absolute seclusion. Of course, I long more and more for my work and my studio. Theories may be all very well for keeping a spiritual balance, but they are grey and shadowy compared with work and life".

Throughout 1916, Kirchner periodically returned to Berlin for a few weeks at a time to continue his work at his studio; he also produced a series of oil paintings, and many drawings, during his stays in Königstein. Obj. Id: 79878


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Kohnstamm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism


19. Emil Nolde Ziehende Krieger (Marching Warriors). Woodcut, 1917. On chamois copperplate printing board. Signed on the lower right, titled on the lower center and numbered "IV 6" on the left. On the verso with the stamp of the Kulturhistorisches Museum Rostock and numbered "K 219 G". 30,2 x 24 on 41,5 x 33,7 cm. Schiefler-Mosel H 129 IV. Schiefler-Mosel quote 2 prints pulled by the artist for this state, and an overall total of 24 prints for this woodcut. Cf. the painting “Warrior” of 1916 featuring the same composition (mirror-inverted) (Urban 744, Nolde Foundation, Seebüll). In 1913 Nolde produced four works devoted to the theme of war as well as his famous isocephalic depiction “Soldiers” (Urban 561, Nolde Foundation, Seebüll.) The First World War found no expression in Nolde’s work except for “Marching Warriors” and perhaps the painting “Bowmen” of 1916 (Urban 742, Nolde Foundation Seebüll). In 1917 Nolde’s wife Ada fell ill again and had to undergo surgery. Nolde destroyed 15 paintings and in 1918 a further 18. Difficult times, not only for world history but also for the fifty-years-old artist Emil Nolde. Nonetheless 21 paintings and as many as 23 woodcuts survived these troubled years. Obj. Id: 67596

20. Emil Nolde Der Tod als Tänzerin (Death as a Dancer). Etching,1918. On wove paper. Signed on the lower right, titled on the lower center and numbered on the lower left "II.9". 21, x 26 cm on 57 x 45,8 cm. Schiefler-Mosel R 200 II. Note: Schiefler-Mosel quote for this state an edition of at least 18 impressions, for an overall total of at least 28 impressions. Gracious and perfidious, death camouflaged as a young, beautiful, nude dancer with long waving hair is surrounded by a circle of old men who seem unaware of death’s skeleton that shines through her delicate body. We can foresee what will happen when the dance comes to an end. Obj. Id: 76975



The two most important works of our presentation.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Offizier und Kellnerin (Officer and Waitress)

Oil on canvas, 1915. Gordon 0431 95 x 82 cm

Item Id: 64926



Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Offizier und Kellnerin. (Officer and Waitress) Oil on canvas, 1915 Gordon 0431 95 x 82 cm. With the estate-stamp and the numbering «KN-Be/Bi 6» on the verso. Provenance: Kirchner Estate (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954). Literature: Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig: Photoalbum (photos not featured in the albums I-IV); Gordon, Donald E., Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Mit einem kritischen Katalog sämtlicher Gemälde, Munich/Cambridge (Massa.), 1968, p. 337, Cat.No. 431, illustr. p. 337; Henze, Wolfgang, Die Kunst Ernst Ludwig Kirchners in den Krisenjahren 1913-1917, in: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Von Jena nach Davos - Ausstellung zum 90. Gründungsjubiläum des Jenaer Kunstvereins, Jena, Stadtmuseum Göhre, 1993, pp. 49-58., p. 57; Springer, Peter: Hand und Kopf. Ernst Ludwig Kirchners Selbstbildnis als Soldat, Delmenhorst and Berlin, 2004, p. 42; Kornfeld, Eberhard W., Ernst Ludwig Kirchner und Oberleutnant Fehr in der Zeitspanne vom 1. Juli bis Anfang Oktober 1915 in: Festschrift für Wolfgang Wittrock. Zum 65. Geburtstag, edited by: Hoffmann, Meike, Hüneke, Andreas and Teumer, Tobias, volume exemplar No. 155, Berlin, Freie Universität, 2012, pp. 166-169., p. 167. Exhibitions: 2008/2009, 1914! Lavanguardia y la Gran Guerra, Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Cat. 118, illustr. p. 245, colour plate; 2012, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Madrid, Fundación MAPFRE, Cat. 71, illustr. p. 183, colour plate. Remarks: As Eberhard W. Kornfeld wrote in his account of Kirchner’s time as a soldier in the First World War, Kirchner was «for unknown reasons not conscripted for obligatory training as a soldier». Kirchner therefore «volunteered involuntarily», as he himself wrote, as a driver for the artillery and in July 1915 was assigned as a recruit to a regiment of the field artillery in Halle an der Saale. However, the drill and the entire circumstances of his training demanded much too much of Kirchner and by the end of that same month he was granted a lengthy period of convalescence. Kirchner made this an opportunity to do a small yet highly intense series of paintings, in which he depicted and reflected upon what he had just experienced. These paintings include the enigmatic and much-studied paintings «Selbstbildnis als Soldat» (Gordon 435) and «Artilleriesoldaten» (Gordon 434), as well as «Der Rote Turm in Halle» (Gordon 436) – Kirchner’s monument to that time –, two paintings depicting soldiers on horseback (Kirchner undoubtedly loved horses) and a further genre painting of the time, namely «Offizier und Kellnerin».



Coming from the right, a waitress enters and dominates the right-hand half of the painting. She is carrying a tray, which she offers to the officer on the left. The tray marks the very centre of the painting. The officer – recognizable as a cavalry officer by his riding boots and the leather trim of his riding breeches – stands full-height on the far left-hand side of the painting, his arms held straight and tight against his body. Entering from the right, behind the waitress, is a second, identically uniformed officer – or perhaps it is the reflection of the first officer in a mirror. Visible between the two figures – the officer and the waitress – in the bottom half of the painting is a table covered with a white tablecloth onto which the waitress evidently intends to place the tray. Nonetheless, the situation is not all that clear. Nor are the happenings in the background, where a small group of soldiers behind and to the right of a small fir tree are doing gymnastic exercises, while two figures emerge from the colonnade that both traverses and cuts off the background and begin to run towards us, the viewers, along the path that wends its way left of the fir tree towards the middle foreground. Most important are here these two small figures in the background. Kirchner seems to look back to his “Strassenszenen” (Street-Scenes) for a last time. The officer’s uniform and the waitress’s dress are green, the apron and tablecloth various shades of white, while the entire composition is dominated by strong, various shades of violet – a wonderfully differentiated resonance of colours. Quite possibly Kirchner has here memorialized his benefactor Hans Fehr, who had discharged him from military service in October 1915 in order that he could undergo medical treatment. Fehr, a Bernese university professor but with a chair at the University of Jena at that time, was also a friend of Emil Nolde. Perhaps Fehr has invited Kirchner to partake of a small meal with him, in which case it is indeed Kirchner who has entered the scene from the right. It was undoubtedly Kirchner’s experience of the particular quality of the lighting and the mood it generated that inspired him to create this superb, dominantly violet composition.



Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Porträt Hugo

Oil on canvas, 1914. Gordon 0415. 60 x 50 cm



Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Porträt Hugo Oil on canvas, 1914. Gordon 0415. 60 x 50 cm With the estate-stamp and the numbering 'KN-Be/Ba 5' on the verso. Provenance: Kirchner-Estate Literature: Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig: Photoalbum II, photo 173.; Gordon, Donald E., Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Mit einem kritischen Katalog sämtlicher Gemälde, München/Cambridge (Massa.), 1968, p. 106, 334, cat.Nr. 415, img.p. 334.; Wahl, Volker, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner und Jena - Ein Beitrag zur Biographie des Künstlers anlässlich seines 100. Geburtstag, Berlin, 1980., p. 481.; Wahl, Volker, "Von Jena nach Davos - Stationen eines Künstlerlebens", in: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Von Jena nach Davos - Ausstellung zum 90. Gründungsjubiläum des Jenaer Kunstvereins, Jena, Stadtmuseum Göhre, 1993, p. 21-39., p. 24.; Röske, Thomas, "Dokumente einer Freundschaft - Botho Graef und Hugo Biallowons auf Bildern Ernst Ludwig Kirchners", in: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Von Jena nach Davos - Ausstellung zum 90. Gründungsjubiläum des Jenaer Kunstvereins, Jena, Stadtmuseum Göhre, 1993, pp. 40-48., pp. 43-44.; Jordan, Sharon: Philosophers, Artists and saints: Ernst L. Kirchner and Male Friendship in Paintings, 1914-1917, The City University of New York, 2009, img.p. 329, img. 2. Exhibitions: 1993-1994, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Von Jena nach Davos. Exhibition for the 90ieth foundation anniversary of Kunstverein Jena, Jena, Stadtmuseum Göhre, cat. 7, img.p. 128, not exhibited; 2002, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Milano, Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta, cat. 62, img.p. 103, (col. plate); 2008/2009, 1914! Lavanguardia y la Gran Guerra, Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, cat. 115, img.p. 242, col. plate; 2012, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Madrid, Fundación MAPFRE, cat. 64, img.p. 175, col. plate; 2013, Der ewige Wanderer - Henry van de Velde in Jena, Jena, Städtisches Museum, cat. I/8, img.p. 143, col. plate; 2014, Weltenbruch: Die Künstler der Brücke im Ersten Weltkrieg. 1914 - 1918, Berlin, Brücke-Museum, cat. 82, img.p. 74, col. img.; 2017, Grossstadtrausch / Naturidyll. Kirchner - Die Berliner Jahre, Zürich, Kunsthaus, cat. 58, img.p. 207, col. plate; 2017, Es gibt nur ein Programm: Freiheit! Kirchner, Nolde, Heckel, Schmidt-Rottluff, Amiet und Hodler. Zum 100. Todestag von Botho Graef, Jena, Kunstsammlungen, cat. 59, img.p. 82, col. plate. Remarks: The head-and-shoulders portrait is that of Hugo Biallowons (1879 Sensburg – Verdun 1916), forest supervisor and life companion of Botho Graef, Professor of Archeology and Art History in Jena. Here in our painting 'Hugo', also a close friend of Kirchner’s, since 1914, is already portrayed in the uniform that was to be his fate.



Photograph Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Botho Graef and Hugo Biallowons in Kirchner’s studio, probably 1914.

Hugo Biallowons models for Kirchner on various occasions as for the paintings "Tanz zwischen zwei Frauen" (Dance between the women) (see Gordon 443).When Hugo was killed at Verdun in 1916, Kirchner was devastated. Botho Graef (1857 Berlin – Königstein 1917) died of a broken heart only a few months after Hugo’s death in action. Kirchner had lost one of the few pillars of stability in the maelstrom of the Second World War. This loss was also a reason for Kirchner’s nervous breakdown shortly afterwards that lead him into several hospitals and finally to Switzerland. In this so sad and wearing period, Kirchner created some of his most remarkable and important paintings in spite of his existential fear.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Der Tanz zwischen den Frauen, 1915. Höhe: 121,1 cm; Breite: 91,4 cm Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. Pinakothek der Moderne.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/de:Bayerische_Staatsgem%C3%A4ldesammlungen

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjwvcTuxs_gAhXE4KQKHfHsARQQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner_Der_Tanz_zwischen_den_Frauen_1915-1.jpg&psig=AOvVaw2lIhGvQnKCxbgca_F8bZIH&ust=1550932209852136


Photographs by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner:

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Selfportait as Soldier, standing in his studio, Berlin-Friedenau, Körnerstrasse 45, 1915.



Photograph by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Selfportait as Soldier in his studio, Berlin-Friedenau, Körnerstrasse 45, 1915.



Photograph by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Portrait Botho Graef in Kirchner’s studio Berlin-Friedenau, Körnerstrasse 45, 1914-15.



Photograph by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Artilleryman in the barracks in Halle an der Saale, 1915.



Photograph by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Werner Gothein, Hugo Biallowons and Erna Schilling in Kirchner‘s studio, Körnerstrasse 45, Berlin, 1915.

Remarkable recent auction sale:

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Soldatenbad, 1915, formely collection of the Guggenheim Museum NY. Restituted in autumn 2018 to the Flechtheim-heirs. Sold through Sotheby’s NY, 12 November 2018 for 22‘000‘000.- US$.


tefaf maastricht 2019 stand 444 ernst ludwig kirchner, erich heckel ... - henze … ·...

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