Gerader Kanal (Langer Kanal). 1915.
Woodcut.
Ebner/Gabelmann 684 H I (of II). Dube H 287. Signed, datert and inscribed "Ostende". One of to date 24 known copies. On off-white laid paper. 37.4 x 27 cm (14.7 x 10.6 in). Sheet: 44,8 x 33,5 cm (17,6 x 13,2 in).
The work shows one of the canals between Ostende and Bruges. [JS].
• At the beginning of the First World War, Heckel trained as a paramedic and served in Flanders in the region around the port city of Ostend.
• During the war years, which were marked by horror and death, mystified landscapes in which a longing for transcendence becomes tangible, appeared in Heckel's oeuvre for the first time.
• Rare print from the first printing state before the additional brightening of the light part in the water.
• Other prints from this printing state are in important international collections such as the Museum Folkwang, Essen, the Kunstmuseum Bern, and the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis / USA.
• Already in December 1915, at the request of Walter Kaesbach, curator at the Berlin National Gallery, a print of this woodcut was purchased for the collection of the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett.

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).
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. 236 (fig.).

LITERATURE: Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 297, SHG no. 445 (fig.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 206, SHG no. 464 (fig.).

In good condition. Margins with minor finger marks and traces of rubbing. Edges with mounting tape all around the reverse, this faintly pressing through to recto and showing through.