Woman with a Veil

1915

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Associated Names
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Artist, German, 1880 - 1938

The image displays a composition of bold, angular shapes and swirling lines that converge into an abstract portrait. The abstract artwork features a face formed through curved lines and sharp angles, reminiscent of a fragmented mask. The lines and shapes resemble features of a human face like eyes and a mouth, distorted and overlapped in a Cubist interpretation. Elements suggest clothing or a hat through curved and peaked forms, contributing to the abstract theme.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut printed in black on blotting paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

  • Dimensions

    image: 32 x 23.5 cm (12 5/8 x 9 1/4 in.)
    sheet: 45.5 x 34 cm (17 15/16 x 13 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2012.92.684

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Dube 1967, Vol. (W), no. 253

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Nachlass E.L. Kirchner (L. 1570b) H 226 II. (Stefan Lennert, Ltd., Kent); Ruth Kainen, Washington, D.C., purchased July 20, 1985; 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) 253

Inscriptions

top right corner by later hand in graphite: H8; lower right in graphite: EL Kirchner; bottom right corner by later hand in graphite: D.253 / 1915; verso along bottom edge by later hand in graphite: K 9884; II Druckunterschied; C-1958; bottom right corner verso by later hand in graphite: 9851

Wikidata ID

Q76557664

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