Three Bathers in the Waves, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Three Bathers in the Waves
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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Three Bathers in the Waves, 1913


Blatt
468 x 364 mm
Druckstock
405 x 273 mm
Physical Description
Colour woodcut from three blocks, partially coloured in monotype manner, on wove cardboard
Inventory Number
65588
Object Number
65588 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

Between 1908 and 1914, Kirchner often spent his summers on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn, which for him was tantamount to a South Sea paradise. Three slender female bathers of an almost emblematic quality romp here in the surf and become one with the formal texture of the sea. Unevenly applied with a brush, the colour heightens the impression of spontaneous movement.

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