Lovers, 1909

About the Work

Despite the tight embrace, the man and woman remain strangely alone. In that respect, the scene bears a connection to Symbolism and reminds us of Edvard Munch (1863–1944), whose works Schmidt-Rottluff had seen in 1907 in the holdings of the patron and collector Gustav Schiefler (1857–1935). For “Lovers”, the artist chose a combination of white- and black-line cut that serves to set off the outline of the entwined couple distinctly from the surrounding space. Unevenly worked areas of the wood bring about a fierce rhythm in the body of the man and the sheet on the bed.

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.