Galerie Henze & Ketterer & Triebold
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Early Woodcuts
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Early Woodcuts
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
The woodcut was the trademark of the artists' association “Brücke” and their group style gave a new bloom to the printing technology. The artist´s of „Brücke“, especially Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, used „these techniques to duplicate their work, as was the case in previous centuries, but with the aim of exploring the individual possibilities of expression. In every respect it was about original graphic work, because not only were the printing plates or printing blocks produced by the artists themselves, they were also usually printed by them too. The results therefore varied greatly depending on the type and colour of the paper, the colour of the ink, and the state of the printing plate, block, or stone. The editions were small because once the desired result was achieved the artist would immediately use the plate for another work.
Image Credit:
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Landschaft mit pflügendem Bauer (Landscape with plowing Farmer), Woodcut, 1906.
Nowhere does one come to know an artist better than in his prints [and] the woodcut is the most graphic of the print processes. (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 1921)
Louis de Marsalle, in 'Über Kirchners Graphik', Genius 3, no. 2, p. 252; as quoted in 'The Revival of Printmaking in Germany', by I. K. Rigby; in German Expressionist Prints and Drawings - Essays Vol 1.; published by Museum Associates, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California & Prestel-Verlag, Germany, 1986, p. 39.
Felder und Wiesen (Fields and Meadows)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1904
10,5 x 14,9 on 16 x 20,5 cm.
Colour woodcut in blue-green on slightly reddish brown paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 3 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Titled on the lower left with “Landschaft“ (Landscape), signed on the lower right. With the estate stamp and with the numbering „H 6“ on the verso . Mounted by the artist on a cardboard base and marked with the Schiefler No. "6" in ink.
US$ 21'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Mädchenkopf in Lampenbeleuchtung (Girl‘s Head in Lamp Light)
1905
18,5 x 11,8 on 20,5 x 15,5 cm.
Woodcut on chamois handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 4 so far known copies pulled by the artist. With the estate stamp and with the numbering „H 30“ on the verso . Mounted by the artist on a cardboard base and marked with the Schiefler No. "30" in ink.
US$ 15'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Sonnenuntergang im Walde (Sunset in the Forest), Woodcut, 1906.
Trennung (Separation)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1905
19,8 x 19,6 on 29,5 x 27,5 cm.
Woodcut on light grey strong handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 6 so far known copies pulled by the artist. With the estate stamp and with the numbering „H 67 D“ in ink as well as "K 5368" in pencil on the verso.
US$ 16'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Strassenbild Dresden (Streetscape Dresden)
1905
15,9 x 12,7 on 21,7 x 17,3 cm.
Woodcut on chamois handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 5 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower left and marked with “Handdruck” (handprint) on the lower right. With the artist’s stamp "Unverkäuflich E. L. Kirchner" (Unsaleable E. L. Kirchner) as well as with the estate stamp and with the numberings "H 20", "K5923" and "C-4932" in pencil on the verso. Mounted by the artist on a cardboard base and marked with the Schiefler No. "20" in ink.
US$ 17'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Felder und Wiesen (Fields and Meadows), Colour woodcut in blue-green, 1904.
Strassenecke (Street Corner)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1905
12,8 x 17,8 on 17,1 x 20,6 cm.
Woodcut on chamois handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 5 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower left and marked with “Handddruck” (handprint) on the lower right. With the artist’s stamp "Unverkäuflich E. L. Kirchner" (Unsaleable E. L. Kirchner) as well as with the estate stamp and with the numbering “H 19” on the verso. Mounted by the artist on a cardboard base and marked with the Schiefler No. "19" in ink.
US$ 18'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Unschlüssiges Mädchen (Indecisive Girl)
1906
19 x 8,5 on 21 x 11 cm.
Woodcut on chamois handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 2 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Numbered by the artist’s brother with “K 225” on the lower left. With stamp of Walter Kirchner, brother of the artist as well as with the numbering „225“ on the verso.
US$ 15'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Strassenecke (Street Corner), Woodcut, 1905.
Sonnenuntergang im Walde (Sunset in the Forest)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1906
12,3 x 15,9 on 13 x 18,7 cm.
Woodcut on ribbed chamois paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 2 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Numbered by the artist’s brother with “K 334” on the lower left. With stamp of Walter Kirchner, brother of the artist, as well as with the numbering „334“ on the verso.
US$ 12'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Schuppen am Elbufer (Shed on the Elbe bank)
1906
18 x 19,7 on 20,3 x 28,2 cm.
Woodcut on ribbed handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 3 so far known copies pulled by the artist. With the numberings "C 3552" and "K 10438" in ink and pencil as well as with the numberings “C 3552" and "224" in pencil on the verso.
US$ 18'000.-
Landschaft mit pflügendem Bauer (Landscape with plowing Farmer)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1906
9,7 x 18,5 on 15 x 29,5 cm.
Woodcut on chamois handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 2 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower left and marked with „Handdruck“ (handprint) on the lower right. With the estate stamp and with the numbering „H54“ on the verso. Mounted by the artist on a cardboard base and marked with the Schiefler No. "54" in ink.
US$ 15'000.-
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Landschaft mit Windmühlen (Landscape with Windmills)
1912
27 x 31,5 on 38,7 x 42,7 cm.
Woodcut on light handmade paper.
Estate of the artist (Davos 1938, Kunstmuseum Basel 1946, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer 1954).
One of 4 so far known copies pulled by the artist. Signed on the lower right. With the estate stamp and with the numbering "H172" in ink as well as with the stamp "Unverkäuflich E. L. Kirchner" (Unsaleable E. L. Kirchner) on the verso.
US$ 36'000.-
Leading German Expressionist painter, sculptor, and printmaker Ernst Ludwig Kirchner studied architecture at the Dresden Technische Hochschule and art in Munich at the Kunsthochschule. Though critics have often tied Kirchner to influences such as Fauvism (Matisse in particular), Cubism, and postimpressionism, the artist himself always denied the influence of others.
In 1905, Kirchner was one of the founding members of the Der Brücke group of avant-garde artists. These artists worked together to develop skills in drawing, painting, and printmaking (woodcut and lithography). Kirchner and Der Brücke were some of the first artists to value printmaking as an independent art form. Even when the design was based on his paintings, Kirchner’s preparation of the matrices and often hand-coloring of the prints, made each print became a unique artistic work.
Kirchner followed other members of Der Brücke to Berlin in 1911, where he produced his most famous street scenes, such as the painting, “Potsdamer Platz” and the related woodcut, “Women in Potsdamer Platz” (1914). After the Dissolution of Der Brücke in 1913 and his marked mental deterioration, Kirchner emigrated to Switzerland and settled near Davos. In 1938, soon after Nazis labeled him a degenerate artist, Kirchner committed suicide.
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