Erich Heckel

1883 — 1970

Erich Heckel is one of the most important German artists. In 1905, while studying architecture at the University of Dresden, he founded the legendary artists' group "Die Brücke" together with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl. Over the course of his life, a change in his works is visible - from landscape paintings with a great closeness to nature to paintings that show figures often in psychological distress.

During World War II, the Nazis labeled Heckel a "degenerate" artist - his studio was destroyed and 729 works were confiscated from public collections. Today, Erich Heckel's works are prominently featured in the world's leading museums and collections.