Emporsteigender - Der Aufstieg. 1937.
Woodcut.
Inscribed "NL 675 II" by a hand other than that of the artist. With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the hand-written registration number "H Da / Bk 26 II" on the reverse". The only known copy from the second state and one of a total of two known copies. On thin mold-made paper. 50 x 36.8 cm (19.6 x 14.4 in). Sheet: 54 x 40,5 cm (21,2 x 15,9 in).
[CH].
• The artist's last woodcut.
• One of only two known copies.
• The only known copy from the second and final printing state.
• The woodcut was made in context of the planned decoration of the ballroom at the Museum Folkwang, Essen (not realized).
• Made the same year as the closely related painting "Allegory" (Gordon 1004).
• In the year of its creation, the exhibition "Degenerate Art" opened in Munich, which deeply disturbed the artist.
• The depiction of a man rising from darkness and chaos to light may visualize Kirchner's desire for a better future, which he seemed to hope for in view of the dark times .

PROVENANCE: Artist's estate (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946).
Private collection.
Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp, Lugt 6032, acquired from the above in 2000, Ketterer Kunst, Munich, May 6, 2000).

EXHIBITION: Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 1995-2001).
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle an der Saale (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2001-2017).
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2017-2022).

LITERATURE: Annemarie u. Wolf-Dieter Dube, E. L. Kirchner. Das graphische Werk, Munich 1967, no. H 675 II.
Günther Gercken, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kritisches Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 6 (1925-1937), Bern 2021, no. 1785 II (of II, illu.).

Ketterer Kunst, München, auction 242, Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, May 6, 2000, lot 42 (fig.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 366, SHG no. 812 (fig.).
Kirchner to Luise Schiefler, July 29, 1937, in: Wolfgang Henze (ed.), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Gustav Schiefler, Briefwechsel 1910-1935/1938, Stuttgart 1993, no. 626.

In good condition. Right edge with a tiny, expertly closed loss in the margin. In the lower margin and in the right margin with two barely visible brown spots and in the lower margin also with isolated, very faint creases and traces of rubbing.