Fisherman Spearing Eels, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Fisherman Spearing Eels
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Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

Fisherman Spearing Eels, 1919


Blatt
374 x 267 mm
Druckstock
239 x 180 mm
Physical Description
Woodcut on laid paper
Inventory Number
66084
Object Number
66084 D
Acquisition
Acquired in 1948 as a donation from the heirs of the Carl Hagemann estate
Status
Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

In September 1919, Schmidt-Rottluff observed eel-spearing in Hohwacht on the Baltic Sea. By this catching method – which is no longer permitted today – the fishermen impaled the eels, once sighted, with a jagged fork-like spear. The motif served the artist as a means of depicting the simple, hardworking life of the local people.

About the Acquisition

From 1900 onwards, the Frankfurt chemist and industrialist Carl Hagemann (1867‒1940) assembled one of the most important private collections of modern art. It included numerous paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints, especially by members of the artist group “Die Brücke”. After Carl Hagemann died in an accident during the Second World War, the then Städel director Ernst Holzinger arranged for Hagemann’s heirs to evacuate his collection with the museum’s collection. In gratitude, the family donated almost all of the works on paper to the Städel Museum in 1948. Further donations and permanent loans as well as purchases of paintings and watercolours from the Hagemann estate helped to compensate for the losses the museum had suffered in 1937 as part of the Nazi’s “Degenerate Art” campaign. Today, the Hagemann Collection forms the core of the Städel museum’s Expressionist collection.

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Last update

15.11.2024