 |
| Sächsisches Dorf (1910) |
Erich Heckel was born in Döbeln (Saxony nowadays Germany) 31st of July 1883 as a son of a Railway engineer. Between 1897 and 1904 he attended the Realgymnasium in Chemnitz. After the Realgymnasium he studied architecture in Dresden. But he left before finishing his study there in favour of founding Die Brücke art group of which he was secretary and treasurer. The other members were: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl. They all met each other while studying architecture in Dresden. Together with the art group "Die Blaue Reiter", which was founded around the same time, they were the core of German Expressionism. Heckel also worked for architect Wilhelm Kreis until July 1907 but decided to become a full-time painter.
 |
| Stralsund (1912) |
 |
Portrait of a Man (self portrait), 1918
|
In the early works it was clear Heckel was heavily influenced by Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh. Heckel was also very famous for his wood carvings. Members of Die Brücke wanted to create something in between neo-romantic German paintings and modern expressionism. They were also imspired by the paintings of Norwegian Edvard Munch.
 |
| Roquairol (1917) |
Die Brücke dissolved in 1913 and Heckel moved from Dresden to Berlin. He offered his services to fight in World War I but he was rejected for being too old. He served during World War I as a medic instead.
 |
| Das Rote Haus (1922) |
 |
| Heckelroom in the Angermuseum |
Between 1922 and 1924 Heckel painted one small arched room at the Angermuseum in Erfurt. The room is nowadays called the Heckelroom.
 |
| Zirkus (1931) |
In 1937 The Nazis called his work "degenerate" and his paintings were removed from German museum and he was no longer allowed to display his work. By 1944 all of his woodcut blocks and print plates had been destroyed. And some work was destroyed caused by allied bombing on his house in Berlin.
 |
| Eccentric Clown (1948) |
After World War II Heckel lived at Gaienhofen near Lake Constance, teaching at the Karlsruhe Academy until 1955. He continued painting until his death in Radolfzell (at the Lake Constance / Bodensee) in 1970.
 |
| Roquairol by Heckel / Bowie's Heroes / Iggy Pop's The Idiot |
David Bowie was a big fan of Heckel and the album cover for "Heroes" from 1977 was inspired on Heckel's painting "Roquairol". The same painting was the inspiration for Iggy Pop's album cover for "The Idiot" also from 1977. Nowadays his work is mostly displayed at the Brücke Museum in Berlin.
See also the website of the Brücke-Museum | Home page
