The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Portrait of a Man
1919
(German, 1883–1970)
Image: 46 x 32.6 cm (18 1/8 x 12 13/16 in.); Sheet: 69.9 x 55.7 cm (27 1/2 x 21 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1991.109
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Catalogue raisonné: Dube 318
Location: not on view
Description
In this portrait, made one year after World War I ended, Erich Heckel inscribed his own face with the traumas and uncertainties of the period. The woodcut’s jagged angles and broad surfaces distill his facial features while still maintaining a likeness, resulting in the essence of an emotionally disturbed state. The green face further relays the sitter’s spiritual and physical trauma. Heckel first printed the black areas of the block, and then brushed the three colors onto a different block before printing them.- Turner, Evan H. "Selected 1991 Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 2 (1992): 63-83. Reproduced: p. 74; Mentioned: p. 81 www.jstor.orgPeters, Emily J. “Graphic Discontent: The German Expressionists strove for spontaneity and unexpected results.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 58. no. 1 (January/February 2018): Cover, P. 5-7, 22. Reproduced: Cover, P. 7; Mentioned: P. 6.
- Graphic Discontent: German Expressionism on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 14-May 27, 2018).Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
- {{cite web|title=Portrait of a Man|url=false|author=Erich Heckel|year=1919|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.109