Straight Canal (Gerarder Kanal)

Erich Heckel|Erich Heckel

1915 · Woodcut · Drawings and Prints

Heckel was a founder of the German art group Die Brücke (The Bridge), whose dual aim was to express a new artistic authenticity and to connect international artists with similar convictions. This work reflects the horrors he experienced firsthand while working with a Red Cross ambulance unit in Ostend, a Belgian port on the North Sea. With its gouge marks, sharp lines, and dramatic black-and-white contrasts, the image can be read as both a battle-scarred terrain and an apocalyptic nightmare made visible. Although Heckel sought solace in nature, the dark landscape, splintered clouds, and heavy sense of foreboding suggest the physical and psychological trauma caused by the war.

Artist

Erich Heckel|Erich Heckel

Date

1915

Medium

Woodcut

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Purchase, Bertha and Isaac Liberman Foundation Gift, 2017