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Straight Canal (Gerarder Kanal)

Printer Erich Heckel German
1915
Not on view
Heckel was a founder of the German art group Die Brücke (The Bridge), whose dual aim was to express a new artistic authenticity and to connect international artists with similar convictions. This work reflects the horrors he experienced firsthand while working with a Red Cross ambulance unit in Ostend, a Belgian port on the North Sea. With its gouge marks, sharp lines, and dramatic black-and-white contrasts, the image can be read as both a battle-scarred terrain and an apocalyptic nightmare made visible. Although Heckel sought solace in nature, the dark landscape, splintered clouds, and heavy sense of foreboding suggest the physical and psychological trauma caused by the war.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Straight Canal (Gerarder Kanal)
  • Artist: Erich Heckel (German, Döbeln 1883–1970 Radolfzell)
  • Printer: Erich Heckel (German, Döbeln 1883–1970 Radolfzell)
  • Date: 1915
  • Medium: Woodcut
  • Dimensions: Plate: 14 9/16 × 10 9/16 in. (37 × 26.8 cm)
    Sheet: 23 1/16 × 18 3/8 in. (58.5 × 46.6 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Bertha and Isaac Liberman Foundation Gift, 2017
  • Object Number: 2017.52
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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