Lot 137 D

Before a steep dune, whose sunlit gleam seems to radiate the entire heat of summer, three bathers have formed a group in the shade of the tall trees. Heckel has varied the female nudes in calm, seemingly classical poses, and they are modelled to striking effect through the bright and indirect light. The lush green of the forest clearing stands in contrast to the overwhelming brightness of the landscape with a section of milky-white sky stretching above it. The dominant zones of light and colour into which the painting has been divided are complemented along the sides through dark masses of summarily suggested vegetation. The statuesque quality of the slender, upright figures whose gestures are directed inward, across their bodies, is reminiscent of the artist's sculptural works; in particular, the style and pose of the nude standing on the right corresponds to the wooden figure “Stehende, rechte Hand vor dem Kinn” from 1920 (see comparative illus.).
The style and compositions of Erich Heckel's pictures had changed significantly since the Expressionism of the Brücke period. Not just his discovery of the art of Hans von Marées, but particularly Heckel's close and very cordial friendship with Otto Mueller were perhaps typical of the 1920s and in regard to the artistic character and development of the present picture's theme (see Janina Dahlmanns, Komponierte Akte, in: Exib. cat. Max Kaus-Erich Heckel, Eine Künstlerfreundschaft, Brücke-Museum Berlin, Munich 2015, p. 58 f.).