Bilder zum Drama "Sakuntula" von Kalisada. 1907.
5 Lithograph sheets.
39 x 33 cm (15.3 x 12.9 in). Size: 45,8 x 33,0 cm
The series comprises: 'Sakuntala im Tempelgarten', 'Die Huldigung', 'Sakuntala wird geschmückt', 'Sakuntala vor dem Thron des Königs', 'Das Bild der Geliebten'.

• Kirchner's first existing series of illustrations with lithographs.
• Only five complete sets of these lithographs are known.
• Three of them are owned by museums: Kupferstichkabinett Dresden; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Hamburger Kunsthalle.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Neumann, Duisburg.
Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (acquired from the above in 1986, with the collector's stamp on the reverse, 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).
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2017-2022).

LITERATURE: Günther Gercken, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kritisches Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 1 (1904-1908, no. 1-272), Bern 2013, no. 132-136, pp. 150ff. (illu.).
Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 137, SHG no. 110-114 (illu.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 296, SHG no. 667-671 (illu.).

In this series of illustrations, of which only very few copies exist, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner explores the erotic drama by the Indian poet Kalisada, one of the main representatives of Indian Sanskrit poetry of the early 5th century. At the center of this love poem is the faithful hermit's daughter Sakuntala. The first English translation was published in 1787; a German translation followed in 1791. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was fascinated by this erotic oriental subject matter. The year before, in 1906, the artist had already created illustrations for scenes from "The Thousand and One Nights". Our lithographs are early testimonies to an enthusiasm for Indian culture that culminated in Kirchner's drawings for the Ajanta paintings. [EH]

The sheets are in a condition consistent with their age. The sheets are slightly browned. 4 of the sheets have been mounted on wafer-thin China paper on the verso, so that isolated tears and tiny losses in the paper have been backed. Partly with expertly executed color adjustment. The following points should also be noted:
"Sakuntula wird geschmückt" - a horizontal tear in the center of the image backed with China.
"Sakuntula vor dem Thron des Königs" - the backing with China paper has filled in the missing areas in the margins of the sheet
"Das Bild der Geliebte" - a professionally closed tear in the left margin. (ca.11mm)

The sheet "Sakuntula im Tempelgarten" is not laminated on China. With isolated spots that have been expertly backed and reinforced.

The described restoration measures were carried out with the utmost care and professionalism and in no way impair the good overall impression.