Sale: 468 / Modern Art I, June 09. 2018 in Munich Lot 701


701
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Mit Schilf werfende Badende, 1909.
Woodcut in colors
Estimate:
€ 40,000 / $ 44,000
Sold:
€ 43,750 / $ 48,125

(incl. surcharge)
Mit Schilf werfende Badende. 1909.
Woodcut in colors.
Gercken 375 A (of B). Signed and inscribed "Eigendruck". One of 2 copies aside from the edition mentioned in Gercken. On firm wove paper. 19.5 x 28.8 cm (7.6 x 11.3 in). Sheet: 23,7 x 37,8 cm ( 9,3 x 14,8 in).

The second copy from this state before the edition is in possession of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

PROVENANCE: Collection Walter Kern, Davos (verso with the collector's stamp Lugt L1567a, the collector was a frioend of the artist )
Kornfeld and Klipstein, auction 145, July 15, 1972, lot 477.

"Wheather's fine, we are in Boxdorf, they've got some really nice landscapes there, too. Regards D Ernst" (E.L. Kirchner on a postcard with the same motif to E.Heckel, September 6, 1909)

The subject of our color woodcut has its roots in the artist group's stays at the Moritzburg Lakes. The unorthodox art that came into existence there as a result of the unconstrained lust for life is met with great admiration up until today. E. L. Kirchner initially captured the four reed-tossing bathers on a postcard to Erich Heckel and then rendered the motif onto the wooden block in his studio at a later point. Kirchner made groundbreaking accomplishments in this technique around that time. The unusualprinting sequence adds a special character to this color woodcut. Contrary to the common method in which the black block is printed last, Kirchner reverses the method and prints the black parts first and then applies the colors, so that the color layers clearly overlap. The transition parts in the contours are fully intended and part of the composition. How important this sheet was to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is proven by a selection of works for the Fifth Annual Brücke Portfolio compiled as gift for passive members of the group. The sheet offered here is marked as an artist proof and is one of two copies aside from the edition.



701
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Mit Schilf werfende Badende, 1909.
Woodcut in colors
Estimate:
€ 40,000 / $ 44,000
Sold:
€ 43,750 / $ 48,125

(incl. surcharge)