Stine or Head of a Woman

Woodcut on tan wove paper.

Reference: Schiefler 24.

One of three impressions of the first state. There are, according to Schiefler, also two impressions of the second state and five of the third state. All these quantities are educated guesses based on the artist's own notes. Nolde mentioned that there were two further states, four and five, with two and six impressions respectively. None of these latter two state impressions have been found and were likely lost or never existed.

In our first state, Stine bears a "Mona Lisa smile" that follows you wherever you stand. Her gaze is engaging and the light on her face, evoked by the many lines, gives a sense of warmth, perhaps something like late-afternoon sunlight glow. We could not find an impression of the second state reproduced, but the catalog suggests that many of these lines in the background may have already been removed. By the third state, which is reproduced by Schiefler, most of the shading on the face is also gone. Stine's demeanor is stark (Schiefler notes "stark aufgehellt", strongly brightened).

We have only found one impression in a public collection
(Moderna Museet, Stockholm).
Signed and dated in pencil.

A very fine impression in nearly perfect, unrestored condition, with the block's imprint yielding an embossed visual. Two short marginal tears; 1/4 of an inch, top right sheet corner; 1/2 of an inch, right side lower margin; each away from the image and unobtrusive. Hinges were removed, top verso, yielding two slightly lighter areas. Otherwise, a fantastic impression of this quintessentially Expressionistic print.