Pierrot. 1912.
Woodcut.
Signed, dated and titled. One of 30 copies (cf. Dube), of which currently only eight have been registered. On thin Japon. 31 x 27 cm (12.2 x 10.6 in). Sheet: 57,5 x 44 cm (22,5 x 17,5 in).
[CH].

• Only one copy of this woodcut has ever been offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• From the best Berlin "Brücke" period.
• Heckel and his fellow artists found strong inspiration in the world of theater, vaudeville and circus during the Dresden "Brücke" period.
• This is a testimony to the young artists' almost magical fascination with the actors of vaudeville and theater, as well as with this group of motifs.
• The traditional depiction of the sad clown with lowered eyelids and averted gaze contains a melancholy that is typical of Heckel's work.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Dr. Rainer Horstmann, Hamburg.
Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (acquired from the above in 1984, with the collector's stamp on the reverse, Lugt 6032)).

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: Annemarie und Wolf-Dieter Dube, Erich Heckel, Das graphische Werk, vol. 1, New York 1964, no. H 233.
Renate Ebner, Andreas Gabelmann, Hans Geissler, Erich Heckel. Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, volume 1: 1903-1913, Munich 2021, no. 525 H.
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Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 190, SHG no. 229 (illu.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 184, SHG no. 415 (illu.).

In good condition, sheet edges partially slightly irregular. The wide margins with scattered faint stains and creases. Partially faintly rubbed in the upper left of the image. [JS]