By Erich Heckel
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Erich Heckel, 'Mädchenkopf (Head of a Girl)', woodcut, 1913, edition not stated. Unsigned as published in the periodical 'Genius, Zeitschrift für werdende und alte Kunst', 1920, vol. 2, no. 1. A fine, black impression, on buff, wove paper, with full margins (1 1/8 x 2 1/4 inches); light toning to the sheet edges, not affecting the image, otherwise in good condition. Image size: 10 x 6 3/4 inches; sheet size 13 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed.
Reproduced: German Expressionist Prints and Drawings, The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Prestel, 1989.
Impressions of this work are in the permanent collections of the following institutions: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Harvard Art Museums, Hood Museum (Dartmouth College), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Milwaukee Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Museum of New Zealand, Portland Art Museum.
ABOUT THE PUBLICATION 'GENIUS'
Hans Mardersteig and Carl Georg Heise, friends at the University of Kiel, conceived 'Genius' (Muse) as a journal that would provide critical evaluations of contemporary art contrasted with studies of historically celebrated works. The two presented their concept to literary publisher Kurt Wolff who, despite his reservations about the Expressionist movement, began publishing 'Genius' in 1919, with the agreement that it also include a literary section.
By publishing examples of established artists in company with essays on contemporary artists, Genius presented itself as a curated cultivator of progressive taste, forging the critical link between the art of the past and innovative art of the period. In Heise's words: "The revolutionary spirit must not be satisfied with blind devotion to everything new. While its high responsibility is to bring these fermenting ideas to their zenith, at the same time, it must protect the new from smugness and empty advances, through self-reflection and critical hindsight."
Each volume of 'Genius' was composed of two books, the first dedicated to "the developing arts" and second to "poetry and humanity." Original prints by artists such as Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Franz Marc, and Erich Heckel were complemented by literary contributions from writers connected to Wolff's publishing house, including Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky, Alfred Döblin, and Hermann Hesse. Although published for only three years (1919-1921), 'Genius' remains one of the most influential Dada and Expressionist publications of the Weimar Republic. Artists contributing original prints included Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Richard Seewald...
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1910s Expressionist Erich Heckel Art