Mädchen mit hohem Hut (Junges Mädchen). 1913.
Drypoint.
Signed and dated “12” also monogrammed and dated “EH 13”in the plate. Titled “Mädchen m. h. Hut” by Sidi Riha in the bottom edge of the sheet. Additional copy, alongside the 25 copies mentioned in the Ebner/Gablemann catalogue raisonné. On firm wove paper. 25.1 x 20 cm (9.8 x 7.8 in). Sheet: 39,7 x 30 cm (15,6 x 11,8 in).
[AR]

The "Brücke": Expressionism on Paper – The Passion of a German Collector
Further works from the collection will be offered in our Evening Sale on Friday, December 6, 2024, and in our Modern Art Day Sale, December 7, 2024.

• An extremely modern, stylized portrait of Heckel's partner, the dancer Sidi Riha.
• He depicts her with the attributes of the “new type of woman” wearing a bob cut and a small hat.
• Made the year the “Brücke” disbanded during its best Berlin period.
• In family ownership for 60 years.

We are grateful to Ms. Renate Ebner and Mr. Hans Geissler, Erich Heckel Estate, Hemmenhofen on Lake Constance, for their kind support in cataloging this lot.

PROVENANCE: Private collection, Hesse (since 1964: Kornfeld and Klipstein).
Family-owned ever since.

LITERATURE: Renate Ebner, Andreas Gabelmann, Erich Heckel. Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 1: 1903-1913, Munich 2021, cat. rais. no. 620 R (illustrated, different copy).
Annemarie and Wolf-Dieter Dube, Erich Heckel: The Graphic Work, Vol. 2: Etchings, Lithographs, New York 1965, cat. rais. no. 114 (illustrated, different copy).
- -
Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, 112th auction, Modern Art, May 28, 1964, lot 484.

The "Brücke": Expressionism on Paper – The Passion of a German Collector

The Hessian collector recollects his first encounter with Expressionist art to this day: it was shortly after the end of World War II that he was struck by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff paintings on a visit to the Frankfurter Kunstkabinett. The gallery was one of the first in Germany to offer art lovers an opportunity to see works by the artists of the "Brücke" group again, as they had been ostracized as "degenerate" by the Nazis. One of the main reasons behind Hanna Bekker von Rath's decision to open the place on Börsenplatz in Frankfurt in 1947 was to provide a forum for these artists after the dark years of Nazi rule and to reintroduce them to the public. “These works blew me away” is how the collector recalls his initial reaction to the exhibits. He liked Schmidt-Rottluff's rugged, woodcut-like style and subsequently also developed a liking for the other members of the “Brücke”, whose style was so different from what had previously been considered “beautiful”. Together with his wife – who was particularly interested in the works of Otto Mueller and Emil Nolde – he visited many more exhibitions at the Frankfurt Kunstkabinett and other galleries.

Nevertheless, it was about more than just admiring them. In 1962, the couple bought their first Expressionist work at auction in Stuttgart – from Roman Norbert Ketterer, the uncle of the current owner of Ketterer Kunst: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's woodcut "Drei Akte im Wald" from 1933 marked the beginning of the couple's extensive collection of "Brücke" prints.

He never had a specific system, says the collector. However, he avoided acquiring pieces that “many others had as well”. He was particularly interested in works produced in small numbers, pieces with a unique feature such as an additional coat of paint, or works that the artist used as trial proofs. But first and foremost, says the collector, “I made my purchases based on my taste”.

In good condition. With isolated production marks and soiled spots in the white margins. With very faint superficially rubbed spots the corners.