Mädchen mit Fächer. 1909.
Lithograph.
Dube L 118/I (of II). Signed and probably dated later. Trial proof of the rare first state before the closing of the line on the right image margin. On light cream laid cardboard. 18 : 18 cm (7 : 7 in). Sheet: 33,4 x 26 cm (13,1 x 10,2 in). So closely do Heckel’s early graphic works accord with the artistic intention and mode of expression common to all the “Die Brücke” painters that they may be said to exemplify them. The effect of breadth Heckel especially strove for required aesthetic devices which would provide both the desired immediacy and formal consistency. Hence Heckel also worked with lithography as well as the woodcut, which was generally the medium preferred by the Expressionists because it created strong contrasts between black and white. He also used etching and lithography. In his early lithographs, lines are applied boldy to the stone with a broad brush, resulting in a loose, spontaneously drawn surface configuration. Thematically speaking, from the outset of his career, the nude was a motif to which Heckel constantly recurred. Study from the live model requires that the overall situation be grasped quickly and demands what are in fact “hieroglyphic” abbreviations, from which specific qualities of expression and an unprecedented rhythmicisation of forms emerge. The traditionally elegant handling of contour lines yields to a distinctive aesthetic that evokes a growing tension between the subjective urge to create art and objective reality. [KR]

PROVENIENZ: Private collection South Germany.

Very rare