Sunflowers

1920

Erich Heckel German, 1883 - 1970

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About the Artwork

In this still life, Erich Heckel places a bouquet crowned by two sunflowers against a wall with painted decoration in his studio in Osterholz on the coast of Baltic Sea. Heckel and other expressionist artists of Die Brücke (The Bridge) had an affinity with sunflowers, rooted in their devotion to Vincent van Gogh, who was well-known for treating this subject. Heckel and his fellow Brücke members first saw Van Gogh’s pictures at the Galerie Arnold in Dresden in 1905, about four months after they had founded their collective. In the words of expressionist writer Ernst Blass, “Van Gogh stood for expression and experience as opposed to Impressionism and Naturalism . . . The courage of one’s own means of expression.” Heckel’s use of distortions and belief in the primacy of the power of color were deeply informed by Van Gogh’s work.

Title Sunflowers

Artwork Date 1920

Artist Erich Heckel

Life Dates 1883 - 1970

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. German

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 30 1/2 × 27 3/4 inches (77.5 × 70.5 cm) Framed: 34 9/16 × 30 13/16 × 2 5/8 inches (87.8 × 78.3 × 6.7 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Modern Art to 1970

Credit City of Detroit Purchase

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 21.209

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Provenance

1921-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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