Erich Heckel: Drucke 1905–1922

We don’t always recognize everything for what it is. When Inge Druckrey passed this along to us, we were a little dismissive. Someone will be $30 for this, we thought to ourselves. We brought it back to Boston, moving it from pile to pile until it was time to figure out what it was. What it was (and is) is a catalog (of sorts) from a 1923 exhibition of Heckel’s prints. But who was Erich Heckel? We didn’t know his name—but we definitely knew his work. A quick google pointed us to this and this. Oh, we thought. That guy. Whoa. Printed straight from the woodblocks and in an edition of just 30 copies, these two sheets of thin handmade paper have three prints: “Badende” (“Bathers”), “Begegnung” (“Encounter”), and “Im Atelier” (“In the Studio”). Additionally, on the front—and what most interested Inge (or so she said when we asked her what attracted her to this)—is the title page cut by Heckel. Check that lettering! Each print is signed and dated by Heckel in pencil—although the title cut is unsigned.

Now, this copy is known as the Heinrich Stinnes copy, and bears his red collector’s stamp and characteristic inscription in ink at the base of each leaf. Now, who was Heinrich Stinnes? He was a German art collector. When he died in 1932, the Times noted that he “owned what some experts considered to be the most important graphic art collection in Europe.” How’s that for provenance? And, this is also copy No. 1.

A beautiful, uncommon thing by an important artist whose work inspired David Bowie and Iggy Pop album covers.