Exhibition explores the reciprocal relationships between woodcut and sculpture

In the exhibition “The Mysteries of Material: Kirchner, Heckel and Schmidt-Rottluff”, the Städel Museum explores the reciprocal relationships between woodcut and wooden sculpture in the oeuvres of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), Erich Heckel (1883– 1970) and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976). What the two very different artistic mediums have in common is wood, the material intimately linked with the art of German Expressionism. The three co-founders of the “Brücke” artists’ group became involved with this material by way of the woodcut – a printmaking method in which a relief is cut into a wooden board or block. What appealed to Kirchner, Heckel and Schmidt-Rottluff was the great experimental potential of this printing technique, as well as the work with the material. Engagement with the characteristics of various wood types as