Auction: 12 days
As of May 28, 2026
HECKEL, ERICH
1883 Döbeln–1970 Radolfzell
Title: "Unter Bäumen".
Date: 1921.
Technique: Gouache, watercolour and pencil on laid paper.
Measurement: 60 x 48 cm.
Notation: Signed, dated and titled lower right: Heckel 21 Unter Bäumen.
Frame: Framed.
Provenance:
- - Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione
- Private collection (acquired from the previous owner in 1966)
- Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York
- Private collection South America/Germany (acquired from the previous owner in 1981)
Exhibition:
- Galerie Wilhelm Grosshennig, Düsseldorf 1958
- Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione 1966
Literature:
- Exhib. cat. Galerie Wilhelm Grosshennig, Düsseldorf 1958, cat. no. 5
- Exhib. cat. Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione, 1966, cat. no. 122
- Nudes in natural settings are the most important group of subjects from his creative period in the early 1920s
- Idyllic scenes rendered in vibrant colours
- An outstanding example of Heckel’s masterful watercolour technique
Following the end of the First World War and Heckel’s voluntary service as a nurse
with a Red Cross unit in Flanders, he began in the early 1920s
to resume and intensify his annual study trips.
Summer by the sea became an integral part of his artistic creative process, and
during journeys throughout Europe, he produced numerous
watercolours and sketches right up into the 1940s.
This work dates from 1921 and represents a particularly striking
example of that creative period. The dense forest looks almost like a jungle, in front of
which Heckel has placed two nudes on the seashore. The red light of the setting
sun is reflected on the bodies and along the shoreline, whilst the deep blue shadows at the
edge of the forest emphasise the presence of nature.
It is in works such as “Unter Bäumen” that Heckel’s love and connection to nature
become particularly evident. The almost paradisiacal scene is not only an
impressive example of Heckel’s technical mastery, but also reveals
the way in which Heckel perceived nature, thus offering a particularly direct glimpse
into the artist’s soul,
Estimated shipping costs for this lot:
Inland: 77.31 Euro plus 14.69 Euro VAT
EU: 100.84 Euro plus 19.16 Euro VAT
Third country: 159.66 Euro plus 30.34 Euro VAT
additional shipping insurance
Shipping insurance
up to total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: max. 41.65 Euro
over a total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: 1.8 o/oo
USA by individual arrangement after the auction.
#Erich Heckel #Expressionism #Die Brücke #Germany #Modern Art #1920s #Modern Art.
In accordance with §26 UrhG (German Copyright Act), VAN HAM is obliged to pay a statutory resale royalty on the sale proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography whose authors have not been deceased for 70 years prior to the end of the calendar year of the sale. The buyer shall contribute 1.5% of the hammer price to this fee.