Männerbildnis. 1919.
Woodcut in colors.
Signed. Copy aside from the unnumbered edition. On slightly structured wove paper. 46 x 32.5 cm (18.1 x 12.7 in). Sheet: 66,5 x 55 cm (26,1 x 21,6 in).
[EH].

• This is probably the most important self-portrait in the artist's oeuvre.
• A milestone in Expressionist printmaking in color, with a monotype-like finish.
• High-contrast print in black, blue, green and ochre with an almost painterly application of color and a print appearance that distinguishes all known copies from the three printing states.
• Shown on the poster of the 1963 comprehensive exhibition of prints at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart to celebrate Heckel's 80th birthday and in 2015 on the cover of the catalog for the exhibition "Max Kaus - Erich Heckel. Eine Künstlerfreundschaft" at the Brücke-Museum in Berlin.
• Further copies of this print are in museum collections, such as the Saarlandmuseum, Saarbrücken and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.

PROVENANCE: Olbricht Collection, Essen/Berlin (acquired in 2000).

LITERATURE: Annemarie and Wolf-Dieter Dube, Erich Heckel. Das graphische Werk, vol. 1: Holzschnitte, New York 1964, no. 238 II (of II B).
Renate Ebner, Andreas Gabelmann, Erich Heckel. Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 2 (1914-1968), Munich 2021, no. 739 H III A (of III B), pp. 104f.
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Galerie Kornfeld & Cie, Bern, Kunst des 19. und 20.Jahrhunderts, June 23, 2000, lot 50 (illustrated).

"The woodcut head is two-plate print, first in black, the second plate painted in two colors with a brush."
Erich Heckel on the printing process for this woodcut, in a letter to Gustav Schiefler dated January 17, 1920.

"Line and surface in perfect harmony with color, a self-portrait characterized by self-evidence and the absolute certainty of his consummate mastery."
Dr. Annemarie Dube-Heynig, author of the catalogue raisonné of Erich Heckel's prints, quoted from: Exhib. cat. Erich Heckel, Museum Folkwang, Essen / Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1983/84, p. 65.