Smiling Head, Self-portrait (Lächelnder Kopf, Selbstporträt)

1923

Walter Gramatté

Associated Names
Walter Gramatté

Artist, German, 1897 - 1929

The image features a stylized portrait of an individual's head and shoulders. The person is shown facing forward with abstract, angular facial features which include darkly shaded eyes, a pronounced nose, and a slight smile. The hair is depicted in short, combed-back lines. The individual is wearing a garment with a high, rounded collar in a textured style matching the portrait's overall artistic representation. There are no visible accessories or objects in the person's hands. The background has a textured, abstract pattern with strokes radiating from the center, in a muted blue-green color that covers the entire piece.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and engraving, printed in black and green

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 53 × 39 cm (20 7/8 × 15 3/8 in.)
    plate: 25.5 × 17.5 cm (10 1/16 × 6 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.252

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Eckhardt 1932, no. 156

  • Series Title

    Das Gesicht

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Martin Sumers Graphics, New York); Ruth Cole Kainen [1922-2009], Washington, D.C. (Lugt 4739), purchased April 14, 1984; gift to NGA, 2012.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1932

  • Eckhardt, Ferdinand. Das graphische Werk von Walter Gramatte. Zurich: Amalthea-Verlag, 1932, no. 156.

Inscriptions

singed by artist, lower right under platemark, in graphite: Walter Gramatté / 23

Wikidata ID

Q76556466

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