The Great Anxiety (Self-Portrait in Three-Quarter Profile to the Right) (Die große Angst [Selbstportrat, Kopf im Halbprofil nach rechts])

1918

Walter Gramatté

Associated Names
Walter Gramatté

Artist, German, 1897 - 1929

unidentified

Printer

Gustav Kiepenheuer

Publisher, German, 1880 - 1949

This print shows a stylized representation of a person with only their head and one hand prominently displayed. The face is slightly turned to the right, and it has exaggerated features, including large circular eyes with swirling pupils, a pointed nose, and a wide brow. It is painted in shades of bluish-green, with bright yellow-green highlights. Above the head are several sweeping lines and soft pastel colors such as purple, pink, and blue, perhaps indicating a hat. The hand is near the bottom left corner, and it is elongated, with twisted fingers reaching outward. The hand is painted in the same bluish-green hue. The background is a blend of pastel colors, mainly purple and pink tones, and some curved off-white sections below the head could suggest shoulders or a torso, crisscrossed with thin black lines.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Conrad Graeber Fine Art, Riderwood MD; Christopher and Beverly WIth, July 2012; gift to NGA, 2022

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2024

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

Bibliography

1932

  • Eckhardt, Ferdinand. Das graphische Werk von Walter Gramatte. Zurich: Amalthea-Verlag, 1932: no. 118.

Inscriptions

lower right sheet, signed, in graphite: Walter Gramatté 18

Watermarks

None.


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