Female Portrait (Weibliches Bildnis)
Medium
woodcut in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
image: 24 x 17.3 cm (9 7/16 x 6 13/16 in.) sheet: 59.8 x 46.8 cm (23 9/16 x 18 7/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dr. Ruth Ivor
Accession Number
1993.73.2
Art Historical Context
**Female Portrait (Weiblichesnis)** by Karl Schmidt-Rottuff, created in 1909, the raw energy of German Expressionism during its formative. Schmidt-Rottluff, a founding member of the revolutionary artist group Die Brücke ( Bridge), formed in Dresden in 1905, sought to break from academic traditions. This woodcut reflects the group's embrace of primal, emotional expression, drawing inspiration from African and Oceanic art, medieval woodcuts, and folk traditions to convey inner truths over outward realism. Printed in bold black ink on cream laid paper, the work exemplifies the Expressionists' ma...
About the Artist
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976) was a German painter and printmaker who was a co-founder of Die Brücke (The Bridge), one of the most important groups of the Expressionist movement. Born Karl Schmidt in Rottluff near Chemnitz, he adopted his birthplace as a surname and in 1905, together with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, and Erich Heckel, founded Die Brücke in Dresden, a group dedicated to ...