- Erich Heckel
Erich Heckel (
july 31 ,1883 –january 27 ,1970 ) was a German painter andprintmaker , and a founding member of the "Die Brücke " group ("The Bridge") which existed 1905-1913.Biography
Heckel was born in
Döbeln (Saxony ). He and others members of the groupDie Brücke greatly admired the work ofEdvard Munch , and aimed to make a "bridge" between traditional neo-romantic German painting and modern expressionist painting. The four founding members made much use of the print as a cheap and quick medium with which to produce affordable art.In 1937 the
Nazi Party declared his work "degenerate"; it forbade him to show his work in public, and over 700 items of his art were confiscated from the nation's museums. By 1944 all of his woodcut blocks and print plates had been destroyed.Afler
World War II Heckel lived atHemmenhofen nearLake Constance , teaching at theKarlsruhe Academy until 1955. He continued painting until his death atRadolfzell in 1970.Like most members of Die Brücke, he was a prolific printmaker, with 465
woodcut s, 375etching s, and 400lithograph s described in the Dube catalogues raisonné, over 200 of which, mostly etchings, date to the last seven years of his life.A major retrospective exhibition, "Erich Heckel – His Work in the 1920s", was held October 2004 – February 2005 at the
Brücke Museum inBerlin .Criticism
The critic James Auer has said that his "Franzi Standing" ...
...in many ways encapsulates the principal virtues of the entire Expressionist movement. At once frank and respectful, daring and compassionate, it depicts a girl-woman on the cusp of adolescence, innocent and free yet, at the same time, curious and knowing.
External links
* [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=60684 Heckel - "Fränzi reclining"]
* [http://www.bruecke-museum.de/engl_heckl.htm Erich Heckel's 1920s work at the Brücke]
* [http://www.museen-sh.de/ml/digicult.php?digiID=200.6881096&s=2 works of the artist at "Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein"]
* [http://www.ludorff.com/ap/heckel/heckele.html Available Works & Biography] Galerie Ludorff, Duesseldorf, Germany
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