Gegner. 1912.
Woodcut.
Signed and dated. One of to date 20 known copies. On Japon. 24.3 x 24.1 cm (9.5 x 9.4 in). Sheet: 57,5 x 44,8 cm (22,6 x 17,6 in).
[CH].

• In 1912, Heckel had begun his intensive studies of Dostoyevsky, which enriched his artistic work by numerous motifs.
• This is an illustration for Dostoyevsky's novel "The Idiot" (German first edition 1889).
• The depiction may also address the conflicts among the artists of the "Brücke", in particular the tense relationship between E. L. Kirchner and Erich Heckel after Kirchner had written the chronicle of the "Brücke".
• The closely related painting "Zwei Männer am Tisch" from the same year of origin, is in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

PROVENANCE: Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp Lugt 6032).

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 und Wolf-Dieter Dube, Erich Heckel, Das graphische Werk, vol. 1, New York 1964, no. H 236.
Renate Ebner, Andreas Gabelmann, Hans Geissler, Erich Heckel. Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, volume 1: 1903-1913, Munich 2021, no. 536 H.
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Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, pp. 184f., SHG no. 417 (illu.).

"[..] in 1912, the motivation behind the painting - 'Zwei Männer am Tisch' - [was] an experience he had [..] that corresponded to a scene from Dostoyevsky's 'Idiot' in which Prince Myshkin, visiting his enemy friend Rogozhin, sees the knife with which the latter tries to kill him on the stairs as he is leaving; on the wall are the pictures of Christ reclining and the portrait of Rogozhin's father."
Erich Heckel in retrospect in in a letter to Hans Platte (Hamburger Kunsthalle), quoted from: Renate Ebner, Andreas Gabelmann, Hans Geissler, Erich Heckel. Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 1, Munich 2021, p. 332.

In good condition. The paper slightly browned in places in the margins and with occasional tiny stains. Very few small tears in the margins, professionally restored.