Brandung. 1915/16.
Watercolor and gouache.
Signed, dated and titled lower right. On firm paper. 57,5 x 40,5 cm (22,6 x 15,9 in), the full sheet.

The work is registered in the estate Erich Heckel, Hemmenhofen on Lake Constance. We are grateful to Renate Ebner and Hans Geissler for their kind support in cataloging this lot.

PROVENANCE: Private collection USA.

Heckel made several works that show the mole of the Ostende harbor. Two tempera pictures from the same year show a sea landscape from almost the same perspective. The dramatic cloud formation clearly echo his earlier works, the usage of opaque paint creates an almost painting-like effect. He had worked up his activity as paramedic in WWI in his graphic sheet, watercolors and paintings. They are proof of the artist's will to render what he had experienced, even under the most adverse circumstances. [KD].