Head of Prof. Dr. Graef

1915

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Associated Names
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

The image shows a stylized depiction of a person, focused on the face and shoulders. The person is facing forward, with a prominent head and neck visible. The facial features are abstract, with deep, bold lines defining the eyes, nose, and a curled mustache. The hair is represented with angular lines, and there is a suggestion of a beard or facial hair below the mouth. The clothing is suggested with broad, sweeping lines that create shapes around the shoulders. The person appears amidst an abstract background, predominantly filled with black and beige, with textured patterns giving the impression of depth and movement around the head and shoulders.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut printed in black

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    image: 44 x 31 cm (17 5/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
    sheet: 57 x 39 cm (22 7/16 x 15 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.738

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Dube 1967, Vol. (W), no. 248, State i/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(R.E. Lewis, Inc., San Anselmo, CA); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased March 7, 1973; gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2014

  • Modern German Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2014.

Bibliography

1967

  • Dube, Annemarie and Wolf-Dieter Dube. E.L. Kirchner; das graphische Werke. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1967, no. (W) 248, i/ii

Inscriptions

lower left in graphite: Hand druck; lower right in graphite: EL Kirchner; lower right by later hand in graphite: 0; top right verso by later hand in graphite: 49; verso bottom edge by later hand in graphite: 15840; no. 9204

Wikidata ID

Q76557812

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