Frauenakt vor einem Zelt. Um 1913/14.
Chalk drawing.
With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570b) and the handwritten registry number "K Be/ Bf 30" on the reverse. On firm wove paper. 49,6 : 39,7 cm (19,5 : 15,6 in), the full sheet. The casual lifestyle he enjoyed whenever he stayed on the island of Fehmarn in the years before the outbreak of the first world war aroused in Ernst Ludwig Kirchner a delight in expressive drawing. As he had when holidaying on the Moritzburg Lakes, he broke all conventional tabus to devote his best drawings to the naked bodies of models standing or sitting in free, relaxed poses. As spontaneously as he captured what was going on, Kirchner succeeded in making spontaneous statements by jotting down a few rapid strokes on paper. Kirchner himself often came to the defence of this method of working, wanting it to be viewed as summarising empiric experience. The coarse stroke of the artist’s chalk underscores the resoluteness with which he has opted for concentrating on essentials while eschewing all narrative detail. [KD]

PROVENIENZ: Private collection South Germany.

Verso: Schreitender weiblicher Akt am Meer. Chalk drawing
In good condition. Partially minimally creased. Negligible, skilfully restored tear (ca. 0,5 cm) in the right margin. The reverse of the upper corners with remains of an old mount. The lower left and right corners with barely noticeable crease marks.