Head Study (Kopfstudie)

1924

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Associated Names
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

The image shows intersecting lines and shapes creating an illusion of three overlapping faces in an abstract style. The central face displays angular lines, while the surrounding faces have additional facial elements like noses and eyes. The abstract design blends familiar human features with unconventional artistic expression.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    image: 32.9 x 27.3 cm (12 15/16 x 10 3/4 in.)
    sheet: 40.8 x 33.5 cm (16 1/16 x 13 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.743

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Dube 1967, Vol. (L), no. 434, State iii/iii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Nachlass E.L. Kirchner (L.1570b) L 433 III. (Henze & Ketterer, Bern); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased May 20, 1996; gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2024

  • The Anxious Eye: German Expressionism and Its Legacy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2024.

Bibliography

1967

  • Dube, Annemarie and Wolf-Dieter Dube. E.L. Kirchner; das graphische Werke. Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1967, no. (L) 434, iii/iii

2013

  • Grecken, Gunther Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Kritisches Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik. Bern: Galerie Kornfeld Verlag AG, 2013.

Inscriptions

by later hand, lower left verso in graphite: C-372b; C-3726; K 3314; 2938 / III rechte Augsbrande, linkes Auge
lower left verso, stamp in red ink: NACHLASS/E.L. KIRCHNER/L 433 III [inscribed in black ink]

Wikidata ID

Q76557824

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