Auffliegender Vogel. 1961.
Woodcut.
Ebner/Gabelmann 1026 H. Signed and dated, as well as inscribed with the year "1962" in the printing block. One of 100 copies. 17.8 x 12.1 cm (7 x 4.7 in). Sheet: 22,8 x 14,8 cm (9 x 5,8 in).
Annual sheet for 1962. In 1930, Heckel started the tradition of sending a print, usually a woodcut, with a symbolic message as New Year greeting to friends. Up until 1968, some 38 of these "Jahresblätter" (Annual Sheets) were made. The wooden block of this woodcut is in possession of the Altonaer Museum, Hamburg, and is inscribed "Nov.61 / 100 Drucke / davon etwa 20 farbig koloriert" on the reverse. [JS].

PROVENANCE: Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp on the reverse, Lugt 6032).

LITERATURE: Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 268, SHG no. 611 (with illu.).
"The annual sheet for 1962 references the Christian iconography of the Resurrection: the bird Phoenix renews its body in a permanently recurring rhythm by burning itself and rising from its ashes. Heckel uses a more folksy version and a simplified depiction by letting the bird rise above a fire."
Christian Radtke, in: Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 268.

In good condition. Right margin slightly crimped. Margin with minimal isolated traces of rubbing. Slighlty evenly discolored.