Gelbe Wand. 1909.
Watercolor.
Lower right signed, dated and titled. On firm laid paper. 34.5 x 43 cm (13.5 x 16.9 in), the full sheet.


• Intense depiction of a Roman landscape in radiant colors.
• Inspired by a multitude of impressions gained on his Italian journey in 1909.
• Landscape watercolors made on this journey are rarely offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• The Brücke Museum in Berlin is home of the largest body of works from this creative period.

The work is documented in the Erich Heckel Estate, Hemmenhofen on Lake Constance. There with title "Fabrik". We are grateful to Ms Renate Ebner and Mr Hans Geissler for the kind support in cataloging this lot.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione d'Italia.
Galerie Thomas, Munich.
Collection Hermann Gerlinger, Würzburg (acquired from the above in 1985, with the collector's stamp Lugt 6032).

EXHIBITION: Erich Heckel. Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, February 26 - April 17, 1966, cat. no. 24 (with illu. on p. 43).
Erich Heckel, Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Graphik, Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione d'Italia, 1970, p. 40, cat. no. 12 (with color illu.).
Erich Heckel zum 90. Geburtstag. Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, Graphik, Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione d'Italia, 1973, p. 46, cat. no. 24 (with color illu.).
Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig (permanent loan from the Collection Hermann Gerlinger, 1995-2001).
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle an der Saale (permanent loan from the Collection Hermann Gerlinger, 2001-2017).
Erich Heckel, Einfühlung und Ausdruck, Buchheim Museum, Bernried, October 31, 2020 - March 7, 2021, extended until June 20, 2021 (with color illu. on p. 110).
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Collection Hermann Gerlinger, 2017-2022).

LITERATURE: Roman Norbert Ketterer (ed.), Moderne Kunst, Campione d'Italia 1963 (with illu.), 1965 (cat. no. 51, with illu. on p. 74), 1971 (cat. no. 40, with color illu. on p. 81).
Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Collection Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, pp. 172f., SHG no. 194 (with color illu.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Collection Hermann Gerlinger, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 163, SHG no. 367 (with color illu.).

"The last couple of days have been wonderful, the sky shimmering blue and the sun hot, so I'm all well, I am working early in the morning and in the afternoon."
Erich Heckel, transcription of a letter in the Erich Heckel Estate, Hemmenhofen.

In February 1909 Erich Heckel embarked on a trip to Italy that lasted several months. In Rome, where he stayed for a long time, he created numerous drawings and watercolors. However, the ancient monuments and historical sites were only of little interest to him. Instead it was the landscapes, the light of the south and the everyday life of the people that caught his attention and found their way into his works. In a letter to Rosa Schapire from April 16, 1909, he reports on the surroundings near his house in Rome, describing "beautiful gardens and fields on soft slopes", where the vineyards are still red, and the crops in an intense green (Erich Heckel, April 16, 1909, quoted from: Karlheinz Gabler, Erich Heckel und sein Kreis. Dokumente, Fotos, Briefe, Schriften, Stuttgart 1983, p. 61). The works made during this period are characterized by these impressions, they show the intense colors of the south and the warm light. He often captured what he saw on site in drawings, as is the case with the ink drawing "Campagna-Landschaft" (SHG 366). Some details of the drawing are altered in the watercolor and the brushwork also differs from the lines. The motif, however, is unmistakable and it can be assumed that Erich Heckel transferred the pictorial idea onto paper in watercolor in the studio at a later point. In his letter to Rosa Schapire he also wrote: "It is quite far to other places - Campagna, Alban Hills, etc, so that I only drew here." It seemed to have been a special gift of Erich Heckel to keep the impressions of what he saw in his mind for a longer time. Heinz Köhn, former director of the Folkwang Museum in Essen and confidant of the artist, found the folllowing wonderful words:"Heckel's eye for the finest gradations in the colorful world and his memory, which retains sensory impressions without letting them fade, are astonishing. German art has to be grateful for numerous works of an inexhaustible magic." (Heinz Köhn, Erich Heckel, Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Munich 1959, p. 29) [AR].

In good condition, with strong colors. With a faint vertical crease in the sheet's center (original, quite common for sheets from this time) and with two to three small losses in left margin. Very slightly discolored along the edges and with a very small kink in upper left corner.
For information concerning the condition, please view the high resolution image / backside image.