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Biarritz-Hafen - Harbour of Biarritz signed and dated 'Heckel 29' (lower right), signed and dated again (on the reverse), and signed again and inscribed with title (on the stretcher) tempera on canvas 96 x 120 cm. PROVENANCE Galerie Ferdinand M”ller, Cologne. LITERATURE Paul Vogt, Erich Heckel, Recklinghausen 1965, no. 1929/4 (ill.) EXHIBITION Dresden, S„chsischer Kunstverein Dresden, (year unknown) Cologne, Galerie Ferdinand M”ller, Erick Heckel, Ausstellung aus Anlass seines 70. Geburtstages, 12 September - 10 October 1953 NOTES Erich Heckel painted from the 1920's onwards several large canvases depicting views of cities, especially harbours. One of the most famous works in this genre is the painting Hafen von Marseille (Marseille Harbour) of 1926 in which one can discover a certain novelty in depicting these views: from an unusual high angle, as if the painter wants to throw the viewer into the work. In that respect one can compare Biarritz-Hafen with the painting Hafen von Marseille. "Verfolgen wir den Weg Heckels in dem Landschaftsschilderungen und Stadtansichten zwischen 1926 und 1932, so f„llt auf, wie sehr daszitierte Empfinden f쳌r einen neuen Bildraum, f쳌r eine st„rkere Eigenwertigkeit der Einzelform k쳌nftig eine zunehmende Kompliziertheit des Bildaufbaus bedingt. Die Hervorhebung und Betonung bildwichtiger Details, unerl„ssliche Voraussetzung f쳌r jede Stadtansicht, wie Heckel sich w쳌nscht, entspricht aber keinenfalls einem šbergewicht der einzelnen Form 쳌ber den Bildorganismus. Im Gegenteil.(..) Von der H”he aus lenkt der Maler den Blick des Betrachter ungehindert durch das Bild. Es vermag alle bildwichtigen Punkte leicht und ohne Anstrengung zu erkennen sowie ihrer Bedeutung nach in das Bildganze einzuordnen - das Heckelsche Raum-Zeit-Prinzip.." (Vogt, op.cit., p. 76-80) As stated by Vogt one has to keep in mind the views of several citiesof the painters of the 15th and 16th Century. They were almost only interested in depicting as much as possible, often with a bird's-eye view. Heckel tries to achieve the same result here. The difference though is clearly the absence of a traditional vanishing point. As a frequent traveller in those years, Heckel's painting of the Biarritz-Hafen belongs to a series of works from France in 1929, amongst Hafen von Bordeaux, Hafen von Port Vendres, and another view in Biarritz: Felsen bei Biarritz.