Three Nudes in the Forest, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Three Nudes in the Forest
DE
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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Three Nudes in the Forest, 1933


Blatt
427 x 558 mm
Druckstock
353 x 498 mm
Physical Description
Colour woodcut from five printing blocks, partially sawn in pieces, on Japanese paper 5th state (of 5)
Inventory Number
SG 3157
Object Number
SG 3157 D
Acquisition
Acquired in 1953 from the artist’s estate
Status
Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

“Three Nudes in the Forest” is one of Kirchner’s late masterworks. Over a period of several years, he worked intensively on the composition, the women’s poses, the positions of the biomorphic patches of sunlight, etc. As he developed the pictorial idea, he worked from photographs, drawings, watercolours and woodcuts. The final result is the self-contained form he also translated into a painting of 1934/35 bearing the same title and now in the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Ludwigshafen.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Three Nudes in the Forest
Artist
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Colour woodcut from five printing blocks, partially sawn in pieces, on Japanese paper 5th state (of 5)
Material
Technique
Geographic Reference
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Nicht bezeichnet
Captions Added Later
Bezeichnet unten links (mit Bleistift): NL 652 VIII
Verso Nachlaßstempel des Künstlers (Lugt 1570b), Nummer handschriftlich ergänzt: H Da/Bfg VIII; daneben (mit Bleistift): VIII FH rot gelb 2 grün orange + blaugrau
Verso Stempel der Städtischen Galerie, Frankfurt am Main (Lugt 2371c), mit zugehöriger Inventarnummer
Watermark
  • Nicht vorhanden
Work Catalogues
  • Gercken 1728 V (von V)
  • Dube H. 637 3
  • nicht bei Schiefler

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 1953 from the artist’s estate

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Iconclass

Primary
  • 31AA14 human figure of ideal proportions, e.g. academic nude - AA - female human figure
Secondary
  • 49D43 prism ~ stereometry
  • 49D32 line (~ planimetry, geometry)
  • 31AA235 sitting figure - AA - female human figure
  • 31A236 lying figure
  • 31D15 adult woman
  • 25H15 forest, wood

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
Nachlass Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Davos, 1938
verkauft an die Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main, 1953.

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.

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Last update

25.04.2024