Sunflowers

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.

Sunflowers

1920

Erich Heckel

1883 - 1970

German

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Oil on canvas

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)

Paintings

European Modern Art to 1970

City of Detroit Purchase

21.209

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Markings

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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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Published References

Vogt, Paul. Erick Heckel. Recklinghausen, Germany, 1965, no. 1920.18 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Erich Heckel, Sunflowers, 1920, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, City of Detroit Purchase, 21.209.

Sunflowers
Sunflowers