Männerbildnis. 1919.
Woodcut in colors.
Ebner/Gabelmann 739 H III B (of III B). Dube H 318 III B (of III B). Signed and with the hand-written printer's note of Fritz Voigt "gedr. F. Voigt". One of 15 known copies from the unnumbered edition published by Graphisches Kabinett I. B. Neumann, Berlin, with the printer's note of Fritz Voigt. Aside from this edition, a further 34 copies from this III. printing state are known (Ebner/Gabelmann 739 H III. A). 46 x 32.5 cm (18.1 x 12.7 in). Sheet: 59 x 47 cm (23,2 x 18,5 in).
Printed by Fritz Voigt, Berlin, around 1920/21 and published by 'Verlag Graphisches Kabinett I. B. Neumann', Berlin. [CH].

• A milestone in the graphic art of Expressionism.
• Hand-printed by the artist.
• High-contrast print in black, blue, green and ochre with an almost painterly application of color and a print quality that distinguishes all known copies from the three printing states.
• Probably the most important self-portrait in the artist's oeuvre.
• The angular, expressive formal language is reminiscent of Heckel's "Brücke" style before World War I.
• In 1963 on the poster for the comprehensive exhibition of prints at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart on the occasion of Heckel's 80th birthday, and in 2015 on the cover of the exhibition catalog "Max Kaus - Erich Heckel. Eine Künstlerfreundschaft" at the Brücke-Museum Berlin.
• Further copies of this print are in museum like the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Brücke-Museum in Berlin and the Kunsthalle Hamburg.

The work is not subject to any claims on the part of the city of Düsseldorf or the Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf.
We are grateful to Christiane Jungklaus, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, for her research and her kind expert advice.

PROVENANCE: Wilhelm Buller Collection, Duisburg.
Städtisches Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf (with the stamp on the reverse and the hand-written inventory number. Acquired from the above in 194, until before 1954/55: Lost during an exhibition in Italy).
Galerie Günther Franke, Munich.
Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp, Lugt 6032, acquired from the above in 1972).

EXHIBITION: Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 1995-2001).
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle an der Saale (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2001-2017).
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2017-2022).

LITERATURE: Renate Ebner, Andreas Gabelmann, Erich Heckel. Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 2 (1914-1968), Munich 2021, no. 739 H, pp. 104f.
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Krieg und Frieden vor 30 Jahren, Expressionistische und nach-expressionistische Druckgraphik, Kunstsammlungen der Stadt Düsseldorf 1947, p. 9.
Katja Schneider, Moderne und Gegenwart. Das Kunstmuseum in Halle, Munich 2008, p. 127 (illu.)
Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 306, SHG no. 466 (illu.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 215, SHG no. 486 (illu.).

"The woodcut head is printed from two plates, first black, then the second plate, which is painted in two colors with a brush."
Erich Heckel about the making of this woodcut in a letter to Gustav Schiefler from January 17, 1920.
"Line and surface in harmony with color capture the self-portrait with the naturalness and absolute certainty of great mastery."
Dr. Annemarie Dube-Heynig, author of the catalogue raisonné of Erich Heckel's prints, quoted from: ex. cat. Erich Heckel, Museum Folkwang, Essen / Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1983/84, p. 65.