Head of Erna, 1912

Blatt: 468 x 404 mm
Druckstock: 278 x 200 mm

Physical Description: Woodcut in black, hand-coloured with brush in green, pink, and white, on laid paper

Inventory Number: 68006

Object Number: 68006 D

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

By way of printmaking, Kirchner found new forms. His pictorial language in the woodcut medium ranged from emphatic simplification to the highest degree of differentiation. Clearly outlined zones as well as precise lines and short parallel hatching form the head of Erna Schilling (1884–1945). The artist executed the woodcut in 1912, the year he met his model, who would be become his lifelong partner. This brush-coloured copy from the Crespo bequest is the only known copy.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Head of Erna

Artist

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

art print

Physical Description: Woodcut in black, hand-coloured with brush in green, pink, and white, on laid paper

Material

Technique

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signiert unterhalb der Darstellung rechts (mit Bleistift): E L Kirchner; bezeichnet unterhalb der Darstellung links: Handdruck

Captions Added Later: Nummeriert unten rechts (mit Bleistift): 201
Verso nummeriert unten links (mit Bleistift): 4983; und: K 5360
Verso oben mittig gestempelt: Unverkäuflich / E. L. Kirchner
Verso unten links Basler Nachlassstempel (Lugt 1570b), mit handschriftlichem Vermerk der Werkverzeichnisnummer von Schiefler (in Schwarz): H 201.

Watermark: Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues: Gercken 565
Dube H 213
Schiefler H 201

Property and Acquisition

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: Nachlass Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Davos

Verst. Kunstkabinett R. N. Ketterer, Stuttgart (20. Auktion) an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 25. November 1954 (Los 1245)

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: