Description

This woodcut of Stralsund, Germany, is among Erich Heckel’s earliest cityscapes, and this impression, a proof, is among the first he made from the block. Like the cityscape by Schmidt-Rottluff (to the left), Heckel’s Stralsund displays mystical underpinnings, with its orderly streets and tall church spire pushing up toward heavenly rings of energy. The splintery contours and jagged planes create rhythm across the composition, while the singular human figure stands suspended within the city that lives and breathes with a life of its own.