Blumen in blauer Vase. 1922.
Watercolor over pencil.
Signed and dated in right margin. On creme paper, laid on thin cardboard. 62,2 x 48,8 cm (24,4 x 19,2 in), the full sheet. Backing cardboard: 67 x 54,5 cm (26,3 x 21,4 in).

The work is registered in the estate of Erich Heckel, Hemmenhofen on Lake Constance.

PROVENANCE: Collection Max Fischer, Stuttgart.

The early 1920s marked a change in Heckel’s art. The "Brücke" years had been long gone. Erich Heckel sought new orientation and found his future determination in an artistic interpretation of what is perceived, his style had become more settled and he attained a sort of ‘mild‘ Expressionism. The subdued coloring is characteristic of Heckel‘s pictures. In the watercolor "Blumen in blauer Vase" the coloring seems very intensive and the motif is fully determined by the technique’s character, that is despite all temperateness and through the play of colors in the back. Our flower composition is also included in the oil painting "Stillleben mit Holzfigur und Blumen" (cf. Vogt 1922/16) from the same year, where it is increased by an illustration of a wooden figure. The interior on both works hints at the artist’s Berlin studio in Emser Street. [SM].