Head (Kopf)
Erich Heckel
German, 1883–1970
(1907)
A compact woodcut portrait in which Erich Heckel reduces a man's face to jagged black-and-white planes to suggest psychological intensity rather than a faithful likeness.
Seen up close the image reads like a weathered mask: stark white fragments punch through a dense black field so the face seems to emerge, erode, and stare back with a raw, primitive force.
Executed at the start of German Expressionism, the print exemplifies Die Brücke’s revival of the woodcut as a direct, abrasive medium for expressing inner emotion and rejecting polished academic realism.
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
composition: 6 1/4 x 4 5/16" (15.9 x 10.9 cm); sheet: 8 11/16 x 7 3/16" (22 x 18.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
230.1955
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
