Köpfe, 1923

Blatt: 334 x 505 mm

Physical Description: Watercolour and pen in black on wove paper (rough watercolour paper)

Inventory Number: 17886

Object Number: 17886 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Request for presentation in the study room of the Prints and Drawings Department

Texts

About the Work

In this watercolour, Dix grouped six very different heads in an arrangement more dissociated than scenic. Here the artist described anonymous city dwellers with a few lines and above all with colour. The transparent hues blend and fray at the edges, seemingly unchecked by any structure—and nevertheless form curls of hair, hats, ruddy cheeks, and red lips. The spots of blank paper representing the whites of the eyes flash out here and there. Dix accorded equal status to watercolours and oils. In Düsseldorf between 1922 and 1925, he executed many likenesses in this technique, demonstrating a fine sensibility for colouristic effects.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Köpfe (Original Title)

Title Translation: Heads

Draughtsman

Otto Dix

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Watercolour and pen in black on wove paper (rough watercolour paper)

Material

Technique

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signiert unten rechts (mit Bleistift): Dix; nummeriert oben links: 313
Verso betitelt unten links (mit Bleistift): Köpfe

Captions Added Later: Bezeichnet unten rechts (mit Bleistift): Dix [?]; nummeriert darüber: 40 [im Kreis]

Watermark: Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues: Pfäffle A 1923/145

Property and Acquisition

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: Otto Dix (1891-1969)

Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin, 1924

zurück an Otto Dix, 11. Mai 1926

zur Ansicht an die Galerie Johanna Ey, Düsseldorf, 27. November 1926

…

[Wilhelm Fähler (1889-1953), Leverkusen?]

Privatbesitz, Leverkusen

Verst. Kunstkabinett R. N. Ketterer (20. Auktion), Stuttgart, an Wilhelm Buller (1892-1955), Duisburg, 24.-26. November 1954 (Los-Nr. 1028)

…

Verst. Kunstkabinett R. N. Ketterer (30. Auktion), Stuttgart, an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 26./27. November 1957 (Los 237)

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

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: