Kopf Hedwig Schaxel. 1917.
Woodcut.
Dube H 313/II. Gercken 870. Signed and inscribed "Handdruck". One of 7 copies mentioned in Gercken. On firm copper plate printing paper. 34.3 x 29.8 cm (13.5 x 11.7 in). Sheet: 55,1 x 39,7 cm (21,7 x 15,6 in).
Inscribed "Frau Prof. Sch" in bottom margin, presumably by a hand other than that of the artist. With a maculature print of the ssame motif on the reverse. [AM].
• One of only seven known copies.
• Singular composition – Kirchner integrates Hedwig Schaxel's expressive portrait head into a depiction on an already treated woodblock.
• Just offered once on the international auction market (Quelle: artprice.com) over the past 15 years .

PROVENANCE: Private collection Hesse (since 1965).

LITERATURE: Kornfeld und Klipstein, Bern, auction 116, June 17 - June 19 1965, lot 467 with illu. on p. 59.
"The hair shows striding men. It is like that with my creation now, without any respect for the reality of things, I use the plate's entire surface for the depiction."
From a letter from Ernst Ludwig Kirchner to Gustav Schiefler, July 11, 1919.