Haystacks
probably c. 1935
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
brush and black ink with gray wash
Dimensions
overall: 50 x 70 cm (19 11/16 x 27 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1945.5.1321
Art Historical Context
**Haystacks**, a captivating drawing by Karl Schmidt-Rluff, dates to around 1935 and measures 50 x 70 cm. Created with brush and black ink accented by gray wash, work exemplifies the German Expressionist's mastery of monochromatic media. Part of the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection, it captures a humble rural scene—stacked haystacks against a vast landscape—rendered with bold, simplified forms that echo Schmidt-Rottluff's roots in the Die Brücke movement. Schmidt-Rottluff, a founding member of this early 20th-century Expressionist group, favored raw, emotive lines and distorted ...
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 ...