Frau D.S.
1917
Medium
woodcut
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1951.10.363
Art Historical Context
**Frau D.S.**, a striking woodcut by German Expressionist Emil Nolde from 1917, captures raw emotional intensity characteristic of his work. Nolde, a key figure in the Die Brücke movement, traditional realism for bold, distorted forms that conveyed inner turmoil and spiritual depth. Created amid the chaos of World War I, this print exemplifies his fascination with portraiture, where the subject's identity—here, the enigmatic Frau D.S.—serves as a vessel for universal human expression rather than literal likeness. The woodcut medium suits Nolde's vigorous style perfectly. Carved directly into ...
About the Artist
Emil Nolde
Emil Nolde, born Hans Emil Hansen on August 7, 1867, near the village of Nolde in what was then Prussian Schleswig (now Denmark), grew up on a farm amid devout Protestant Danish and Frisian peasant parents. The youngest of four brothers, he apprenticed as a woodcarver and illustrator in Flensburg from 1884 to 1891, working in furniture factories before studying at the School of Applied Arts in Kar...