Skip to main content
Head
Head
Head
Photograph and Ditital Image © Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Not for reproduction or publication.
On View
Not on view
Object number1991/2.6

Head

Artist (German, 1884-1976)
Date1915
Mediumwoodcut
Dimensionsimage: 6 3/4 × 9 1/2 in. (17.1 × 24.1 cm)
sheet: 9 7/8 × 13 1/2 in. (25.1 × 34.3 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LinePermanent Collection Fund
Exhibition History"German Expessionists from the KIA Permanent Colletion," Saginaw Art Museum (Oct. 10 - Nov. 1, 1996). "Germany in Transition: Prints and Drawings 1890-1923," KIA Long Gallery (Apr. 20 - July 15, 2006). "Passion on Paper: Masterly Prints from the KIA Collection," March 17 - July 15, 2018, Groos Gallery. "Africa, Imagined: Reflections on Modern and Contemporary Art," KIA Gallerys 3 & 4 (January 22 - May 1, 2022)Label Text"Schmidt-Rottluff ranks among the leading artists of the German Expressionist art movement. During the first decades of the 20th century he and many other German artists sought to bring a modern vision to the arts. Reviving the woodcut was just one of their many contributions to the progressive history of printmaking. The raw, infectious power with which Head was cut and printed is a good example of the type of imagery these artists introduced to their public. Head was created at a significant point in the movement’s history. The group’s work had attained a maturity but still looked fresh and continued to command surprise. We can almost count the few strokes it took to carve this image. The heavy inking of this impression is not unusual. It speaks to the visceral, hands-on nature of the creative process and the freedom that can be exercised in inking and printing an edition. Head is an iconic masterwork in the KIA collection (written by Nancy Sojka for Passion on Paper: Masterly Prints from the KIA Collection, 2018)."