Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Dodo, nackt am Boden sitzend. Verso same motif
Circa 1908
Charcoal drawing on firm wove paper. 43 x 34.5 cm. Framed under glass. Lower left inscribed in pencil probably by Walter Kirchner, the artist's brother, "K. Nr. 159". - Verso inscribed "Nr. Privatsammlung Walter Kirchner, der in der Hauptsache Blätter aus der Dresdner Zeit besass, dieses 1905 zu datieren. Heynig" by Dr. Erhard Göpel, below on a sticker "25.II.1954". - Minimally unfresh, with unobtrusive trace of a crease in the centre.
Dodo, Dorothee Große, was a friend of Kirchner; she was his romantic companion and favourite model during his Dresden period, until he went to Berlin in 1911.
“Kirchner loved Dodo”, explains Gerd Presler. “He gave this love up for the sake of art. And Dodo also accepted hardships for the sake of his art, including her renunciation of a life with him. […] Artist and model also remained attached to one another after their separation. […] She mustered the patience that pushed him ahead, so that he would become who he had to be.” (Gerd Presler, “Frauen um Kirchner”, www.presler.de).
Certificate
With a confirmation by the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Archive, Wichtrach/Bern, dated 3 June 2006. The work is documented in the Archive of drawings, pastels and watercolours.
Provenance
Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Auction 235, 17 June 2005, lot 63; Thole Rotermund Kunsthandel, Hamburg (2006); Private ownership, Bavaria