On ʻDeath in the Iller’, 1959

Blatt: 143 x 279 mm
Einfassungslinie: 137 x 275 mm

Physical Description: Pen in black (ink), washed, on wove paper

Inventory Number: 18130

Object Number: 18130 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2023 as a gift from Barbara and Eduard Beaucamp

Status: On display, Department of Prints and Drawings Exhibition Gallery

Texts

About the Work

In the spring of 1957, an accident took place in the Iller River, a tributary of the Danube in Allgäu: Fifteen German army recruits drowned to death in the rain-swollen rapids. The washed pen-and-ink drawing depicts a demonic, partially masked rescue crew carrying a corpse on a stretcher. Tübke depicted the figure of the corpse bearer at the centre in mannered, elongated fashion as a haunting symbol of grief and powerlessness.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: On ʻDeath in the Iller’

Draughtsman

Werner Tübke

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Pen in black (ink), washed, on wove paper

Material

Technique

pen drawing

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Nicht bezeichnet

Captions Added Later: Verso nummeriert oben rechts (mit Bleistift): 89; darunter (mit rotem Farbstift): 87; unten rechts die Werkverzeichnisnummer (mit Bleistift): Z 32/58 [eingekreist]; darunter bezeichnet: 14,2 x 27,9

Watermark: Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues: Tübke-Schellenberger Z 32/59

Property and Acquisition

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

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Last update

31.07.2025