Mann und Mädchen (Paar). 1913.
Woodcut.
Ebner/Gabelmann 585 H II (of II). Dube H 261. Signed, dated and titled. One of 11 known copies. On off-white laid paper. 27.2 x 21.6 cm (10.7 x 8.5 in). Sheet: 38,5 x 30,7 cm (15,2 x 12,2 in).
The preliminary drawing "Mann und Mädchen" from 1912 is at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe [JS].
• From the best creative period of the important expressionist and "Brücke" artist.
• Rare intimate description of the poor living situation of the artist and his lover and later wife, the dancer Sidi Riha, in their Berlin attic studio.
• Very rare. So far, only two other prints have been offered on the international auction market (www.artptice.com).
• Other prints of this woodcut are in important collections such as the Brücke Museum, Berlin, the Städel Museum, Frankfurt a. M., the Museum Folkwang, Essen, the Franz Marc Museum, Kochel, and the estate of Erich Heckel, Hemmenhofen..

PROVENANCE: Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp, Lugt 6032).

EXHIBITION: Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 1995-2001).
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle an der Saale (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2001-2017).
Expressiv! Die Künstler der Brücke. Die Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Albertina Vienna, June 1 - August 26, 2007, cat. no. 101, p. 168.
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2017-2022).
Erich Heckel. Einfühlung und Ausdruck, Buchheim Museum, Bernried, October 31, 2020 – March 7, 2021, p. 211 (fig.).

LITERATURE: Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 292, SHG no. 431 (fig.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, pp. 200-201, SHG no. 449 (fig.).
"Yesterday we visited Heckel and his girlfriend, the dancer Sidi Riha, when we left we both had the feeling of having been with two children. The small dancer sits in a poor attic chamber in her light blue velvet dress, with beautiful silver clasps that Heckel made for her. The old chair Maria sat on immediately collapsed; we both felt like clumsy bears up there."

Franz Marc to Wassily Kandinsky, January 18/19, 1912, quoted fromzit. : Andreas Hünecke, Erich Heckel, vol. I, p. 217.

In December 1911 Heckel moved from Dresden to Berlin with his girlfriend, the dancer Sidi Riha. Together they moved into the former attic apartment of fellow Expressionist artist Otto Mueller on Mommsenstraße 60, which they furnished with makeshift furniture and adorned the walls with painted sacking. In retrospect, the art historian Walter Kaesbach described their poor living situation as follows: "To get to them, you had to climb countless steps. Finally, you stood in front of an iron door that led into a huge attic. In one corner was a part of the attic, fenced off with board like a cage . This was the apartment that Erich and Sidi Heckel had made for themselves with cardboard and boxes. They had a studio, a living room and a small kitchen. All walls and also the floor were covered with sacking that Heckel had painted himself." (quoted from: Hüneke, vol. 1, p. 384). The unfinished attic was difficult to heat and Heckel's pictures of Sidi from that time often show tired, sick or convalescing. In the present woodcut "Mann und Mädchen (Paar)", which is a small Expressionist rarity, Heckel staged himself together with his beloved Sidi as both painter and model and as lovers. [JS]

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