Heads I, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Heads I
DE
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Blatt
803 x 611 mm
Druckstock
500 x 396 mm
Physical Description
Woodcut on wove paper
Inventory Number
65973
Object Number
65973 D
Acquisition
Acquired in 1948 as a donation from the heirs of the Carl Hagemann estate
Status
Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

In 1911, Schmidt-Rottluff cut two monumental heads with somewhat angular contours in wood. Narrow white lines form clear boundaries between the faces and the dark sections of the background and the hair. The grain of the spruce block shows clearly in the areas printed in black. On the forehead of the woman on the left we even see the curved form of a knothole. These incidentals lend a lively structure to the large, reductive zones: the wood speaks along with the ink.

About the Acquisition

From 1900 onwards, the Frankfurt chemist and industrialist Carl Hagemann (1867‒1940) assembled one of the most important private collections of modern art. It included numerous paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints, especially by members of the artist group “Die Brücke”. After Carl Hagemann died in an accident during the Second World War, the then Städel director Ernst Holzinger arranged for Hagemann’s heirs to evacuate his collection with the museum’s collection. In gratitude, the family donated almost all of the works on paper to the Städel Museum in 1948. Further donations and permanent loans as well as purchases of paintings and watercolours from the Hagemann estate helped to compensate for the losses the museum had suffered in 1937 as part of the Nazi’s “Degenerate Art” campaign. Today, the Hagemann Collection forms the core of the Städel museum’s Expressionist collection.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Heads I
Artist
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Woodcut on wove paper
Material
Technique
Geographic Reference
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert und datiert in der Darstellung unten links (mit Bleistift): S. Rottluff 1911
Captions Added Later
Nummeriert unten links (mit Bleistift): CIV
Verso bezeichnet und nummeriert unten links (mit Bleistift): DrHagemann Nr. 121.
Verso mittig links Stempel des Städelschen Kunstinstituts, Frankfurt am Main (Lugt 2356), mit zugehöriger Inventarnummer
Watermark
  • Nicht vorhanden
Work Catalogues
  • Schapire H. 66

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
Acquisition
Acquired in 1948 as a donation from the heirs of the Carl Hagemann estate

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Iconclass

Primary
  • 31D15 adult woman
  • 61BB112(+513) anonymous historical persons portrayed in a double portrait - BB - woman (+ profile portrait)
  • 61BB112(+512) anonymous historical persons portrayed in a double portrait - BB - woman (+ three-quarter view portrait)
  • 31AA221 head (human) - AA - female human figure
Secondary

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
…, Carl Hagemann (1867-1940), Frankfurt am Main
Nachlass Carl Hagemann, Frankfurt am Main, 1940
Schenkung der Erben an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 1948.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact the museum at .

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Last update

25.04.2024