Picture "Riders" (1911) New
Picture "Riders" (1911) New
Quick info
limited, 14 copies | signed | dated | titled | etching on paper | framed | size 44.5 x 55 cm
Detailed description
Picture "Riders" (1911)
In the art of German Expressionism, horses play a central role. Erich Heckel's dynamic drypoint etching "Riders" from 1911 introduces various layers of meaning in this context. The female and male riders, both positioned atop stately dressage horses, wear noble clothing and assume distinct postures.
The woman in the foreground performs her dressage with an almost straight back and seated sideways, while the male figure on the left appears slightly forward-leaning and more driven, his posture dynamic, with the horse’s head turned towards the viewer. A bridge-like form stretches from the back of the male rider’s horse to the head of the horse with the female rider, which isn’t continued under the horse’s belly.
It seems as though there is a mystically implied, secret connection between the two horses, which would align with their nature as herd animals, maintaining an instinctive bond despite their dressage training. In their implied wildness and the taming revealed through dressage, Heckel’s "Riders" makes visible the contrast between nature and civilization.
Drypoint, 1911, edition of 14 copies on firm paper, signed, dated and titled. Catalogue raisonné Dube R 95. Motif size 17 x 20 cm. Sheet size 28.9 x 36.1 cm. Size in frame 44.5 x 55 cm as shown.
Producer: ARTES Kunsthandelsgesellschaft mbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hannover, Deutschland E-Mail: info@kunsthaus-artes.de
About Erich Heckel
Erich Heckel (1883-1970) is one of the most important artists of German Expressionism. In 1905, together with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl, he founded the legendary artists' group "Die Brücke" in Dresden, which later Max Pechstein, Emil Nolde and Otto Mueller joined.
After World War I Heckel developed a new, cosmopolitan classicism that was accompanied by a more naturalistic approach and a brightening of the palette. In the 1920s, he produced numerous landscape works, including the unusually large charcoal drawing of the 'Westerholz Mill', which is still a popular touristic destination in Schleswig-Holstein.
Erich Heckel's works are represented in the world's leading museums and collections.
The field of graphic arts, that includes artistic representations, which are reproduced by various printing techniques.
Printmaking techniques include woodcuts, copperplate engraving, etching, lithography, serigraphy, among others.
Depiction of typical scenes from daily life in painting, with distinctions between rural, bourgeois, and courtly genres.
The genre reached its peak and immense popularity in Dutch paintings of the 17th century. In the 18th century, especially in France, the courtly and gallant painting became prominent, while in Germany, a more bourgeois character developed.