Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Bildnis Erna - image-1
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Bildnis Erna - image-2
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Bildnis Erna - image-1Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Bildnis Erna - image-2

Lot 205 Dα

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner - Bildnis Erna

Auction 1224 - overview Cologne
07.06.2023, 11:00 - Day Sale - Modern Art
Estimate: 7.000 € - 9.000 €
Artist Alert
Print page
Watchlist

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Bildnis Erna
Circa 1922

Pen and India ink drawing on paper. 20.5 x 15 cm Framed under glass. Unsigned. - The edges slightly abraded. Entire piece laid down on thin Japon.

This sheet from sketchbook 89 is realised with a rare level of density and detail. It depicts Kirchner’s partner Erna Schilling, who was from Berlin and had followed him to Switzerland in 1921. The interior of the “Haus in den Lärchen”, the house above Davos Frauenkrich where the couple lived until 1923, can be seen in the background. The same sketchbook contains another likeness of Erna (see Presler Skb 89-41).

Catalogue Raisonné

Presler Skb 89

Certificate

We would like to thank Gerd Presler, Weingarten, for his expert advice.

Provenance

Kornfeld & Klipstein, Berne, Auction June 1961, Lot 416 with ill. p. 59 ("Erna in Halbfigur", around 1920); Christie's Amsterdam, An Important Collection of Modern Pictures, Watercolours, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture, formed by the late Mr. F.J. Sandbergen, Amsterdam, Auction 19 Mar. 1985, Lot 702; Private collection, The Netherlands