Portrait of a Woman (Siddi Heckel) Erich Heckel

• An expressive portrait of the dancer Siddi Riha, who later became the artist’s wife and muse • A large-format watercolour with beautiful light-and-shade contrasts • The room exudes a sense of middle-class comfort and domestic tranquillity Erich Heckel and Milda Frieda Georgi, known as ‘Siddi’, met in late 1910. Siddi, who was working as a dancer at the time, became Heckel’s favourite model and muse for decades to come. In the autumn of 1911, the couple set up their first shared flat in Berlin. Heckel captured his partner in numerous scenes and stages of her life. Depicted here in half-profile, Siddi is seated at a table reading. Heckel focuses on his wife, who, in her black dress, stands out only slightly against the dark blue background. Her face, hair and skin tone are rendered in light shades of yellow, partly shaded with white. Heckel reprises this shade of yellow in the ceiling of the room and in another, faintly suggested standing figure behind Siddi. The light surfaces of the table, book and hands, as well as the ruff of her dress, provide a stark contrast to the otherwise dark composition. The couple decorated their flat, which also served as Heckel’s studio, with batik fabrics and carved and painted furniture. The figure behind Siddi may well be a wooden sculpture carved by Heckel himself. The couple married in 1915, and their relationship was to last until Heckel’s death in 1970. Despite the deep intimacy between artist and model, the portraits from 1920 onwards possess a classical, almost solemn dignity. Siddi is no longer the wild, eroticised model of the bohemian world, but rather the faithful life companion, muse and guardian of their shared retreat. After Heckel’s death, Siddi sorted through and managed her husband’s extensive artistic estate, involving Heckel’s grandnephew, Hans Geissler, from 1971 onwards. Following her death in May 1982, he continued this work alone and, in 2017, handed it over to Renate Ebner due to his advancing age. | 1883 Döbeln/Sachsen - Radolfzell 1970 | Moderne Kunst | Arbeiten auf Papier | Nummer: 26x2450 | Provenance: KARL&FABER, 17.-19.11.1960, Los 542; Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg 1./2.12.1996, Los 314; Sammlung/Nachlass Serge Sabarsky, New York, bei Vorgenannter erworben; Sammlung/Stiftung Vally Sabarsky, New York.

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