Unter Bäumen am See. 1911.
Watercolor, color chalks and pencil.
With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the handwritten registration number "A Dre / Aa 36" on the reverse. On wove paper. 27 x 34.6 cm (10.6 x 13.6 in), the full sheet. [CH].


• Between Dresden and Berlin: a work from the "Brücke" heyday (1905-1913).
• Landscape and nature were key sources of inspiration for E. L. Kirchner and his fellow "Brücke" artists.
• In the summer of 1911, Kirchner and his "Brücke" fellow Otto Mueller with his wife Maria ("Maschka") visited the painter Willy Nowak in Mníšek pod Brdy (Mnischek) in Bohemia.
• Motif and expression of this drawing are closely related to Kirchner works created at the Moritzburg Ponds (1909-1911) near Dresden around the same time.
• During his trip to Bohemia, the artist painted, among other things, the closely related painting "Böhmischer Waldsee" (1911, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich) and also designed a postcard for Erich Heckel with a very similar composition (July 26, 1911, Altonaer Museum, Hamburg).

PROVENANCE: Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, with the numbered estate stamp on the reverse).
Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, Stuttgart (1954).
Dr. Peiner, Helmstedt Collection.
Galerie Maulberger, Munich.
Private collection Northern Germany (acquired from the above in 2005).
Ever since family-owned.

EXHIBITION: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione d'Italia, cat. no. 14 (illu., plate 29).

LITERATURE: Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, Moderne Kunst, auction 847, November 26, 2003, p. 56, lot 759 (illu. in color).

"Dear E., Very nice here. Met some interesting people. Greetings also to Sidi. Ernst. Dear Mr. Heckel, greetings and thanks for the letter, it would be nice if you were here, too. M. Mueller. Your Otto."
E. L. Kirchner and Otto Mueller on a postcard they made for Erich Heckel on their trip to Mníšek pod Brdy (Mnischek), Bohemia, July 26. 1911 (Altonaer Museum, Hamburg)