Reclining Nude from the Back, 1906

About the Work

Kirchner, Heckel and Schmidt-Rottluff were still studying architecture in Dresden when they began drawing live models in rapidly changing positions. Their aim was to practise spontaneously capturing the naked body in natural poses, a concern they would continue to pursue for many years. The woodcut of the Reclining Nude undoubtedly also mirrors these experiences. Formally, the composition made up of white lines points to the woodcuts of Félix Vallotton (1865–1925), whom the Brücke artists greatly admired.

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.