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The Couple

The Couple

Artist/Maker (German, 1883–1970)
Date1923
MediumWoodcut
DimensionsImage: 4 5/8 × 2 3/4 in. (11.8 × 7 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (26.7 × 19.1 cm)
Credit LineAnonymous Gift
Object number1953.280
Status
Not on view
Copyright© Erich Heckel / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NYMore Information
As a founding member of the collective Die Brücke, Heckel influenced his contemporaries with a style incorporating an active line and angular, sloped forms. In this tiny woodcut, Heckel depicts a man and a woman holding hands against a backdrop of jagged mountaintops. The Couple exhibits an idealistic longing for innocence and "free love," but counteracts this sensitive and lyrical subject matter by using the woodcut medium to apply a rough, dynamic texture and aesthetic.
Provenance(Ferdinand Roten Galleries Baltimore, MD). Gift of an anonymous donor 1953 to Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OHExhibition History
The Great Woodcut Revival
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH ( 1982 - 1982 )
From Expressionism to the New Objectivity: German Prints and Drawings, 1905-1945
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (June 28, 1988 - August 21, 1988 )
None of These Things Is Just Like the Other: Twelve Students Raid the Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 13, 1994 - July 17, 1994 )
"To Make Things Visible": Art in the Shadow of World War I
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 3, 2009 - June 7, 2009 )
Collections
  • Modern & Contemporary
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We welcome additional information and suggestions for improvement. Please email us at AMAMcurator@oberlin.edu.