Hagebutten in gelbem Topf. 1932.
Watercolor, gouache and India ink.
Lower right monogrammed and dated. Dated and titled by Hans Geissler (Erich Heckel Estate, Hemmenhofen) on the reverse. On Ingres laid paper, laid on thin, grayish cardboard. 56 x 33.3 cm (22 x 13.1 in), the full sheet. [CH].


• An artistic contemporary document: this vibrant watercolor with scorched edges is one of the few works that Heckel managed to rescue after his Berlin studio was firebombed on January 30, 1944.
• Heckel's still lifes are characterized by the inclusion of ornamental backgrounds, such as his wall paintings, other works of art or mirrors.
• In the work offered here, Heckel chose the image section in such a way that the direct connection between the rosehip plant, the two-dimensional background and the heads visible on the left creates a sophisticated interplay of lines and surfaces.

The work is registered in the Erich Heckel Estate, Hemmenhofen on Lake Constance. We are grateful to Mrs Renate Ebner for her kind support in cataloging this lot.

PROVENANCE: Erich Heckel Estate, Hemmenhofen.
Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp, Lugt 6032, acquired from the above in 1985).

EXHIBITION: Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 1995-2001).
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle an der Saale (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2001-2017).
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2017-2022).

LITERATURE: Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 328, SHG no. 513 (illu.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 240, SHG no. 537 (illu.).
Erich Heckel in a letter to his friend Max Kaus from February 3, 1944, quoted from: Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 328.