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Artist or Maker: Erich Heckel

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Description: Stehendes Kind (Fränzi stehend) (D. 204 b 1)
woodcut printed in black and dark green, 1910, on thick, fibrous wove paper, a very good, saturated impression, printing with strong relief verso, signed and dated in pencil Erich Heckel 11. (a later signature), with wide margins, a deckle edge at right, a small thin spot and hole in the margin just below the signature (a paper flaw inherent in the making of the paper), in very good condition, framed
B. 370 x 270 mm.; S. 560 x 350 mm.

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Published: M. Möller, J. Arnaldo, exhibition catalogue, Brücke - Die Geburt des deutschen Expressionismus, Brücke-Museum in der Berlinischen Galerie, Berlin, 2005-06, no. 73, p. 185 (another impression illustrated).

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Notes: The present work was originally conceived and cut in 1910. Printed in black, red and green, it was included in the 'Brücke 1911' portfolio ('Jahresmappe VI'), published for the sixty or so supporting members of the Künstlergruppe Brücke.

In the tumultuous decades that followed, the two colour blocks were apparently lost, and only the black block remained in the artist's hands. Heckel appears to have re-cut the green block, probably in the early 1950's, using a stencil taken from an early impression and printed a very small number of proofs in black and green only. No early two-colour proofs of Stehendes Kind are known and probably not more than ten impressions were printed later. Heckel dated these 1911, in accordance with the date of publication.
These later impressions display slight differences from those included in the Brücke-portfolio. Over time the black block had cracked at the upper left corner, resulting in a small blank area in the later impressions. Also, with the re-cutting of the green block, a small gap appeared between the green and the black block, leaving a narrow white line between the two.

We have only been able to trace four black/green impressions at auction, and two are known in public collections in Germany. 'Fränzi stehend' is one of the icons of German Expressionism and both the three-colour version and the present, two-colour versions are extremely scarce.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.