Erich HeckelGerman, 1883–1970Boys at the Beach
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Boys at the Beach” now? Minneapolis Institute of Art, G371, Minneapolis. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
Closed· opens Tue at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Bathers were a central subject for Erich Heckel throughout his career. “Boys at the Beach, ” executed a year after the close of World War I, is representative of his radical shift in approach following the war. Heckel's young men appear emaciated, stiff, and tentative; the standing figure cradles his chest as though he is cold or feels shame. Rather than enjoying the nature that surrounds them, the men are depicted turning their backs to the sea and the beach and psychologically distancing themselves from both their world and each other. Heckel’s figures are symbolic of the trauma of the "Great War" and loss of carefree pleasures that followed.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2023.31.1
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Minneapolis Institute of Art
In the life of Erich Heckel
The whole lifeMay 1915 – November 1918
The Ostend hospital: an artists’ colony
From May 1915 until the end of the war in November 1918 Heckel serves in the Ostend emergency hospital, housed in the railway station and home to a true artists’ colony: the orderlies paint, make woodcuts, read and discuss literature and poetry, and adorn the building with murals and window decorations. As a painter, he is most deeply impressed by the Flemish landscape and the North Sea, especially sunlight penetrating the unusual cloud formations.
1918
Returns to Berlin
Heckel returns to Berlin; the painting Spring (National Gallery, Berlin) is also dated 1918.
1919–1944
Annual summer trips to Osterholz
Every summer from 1919 to 1944 Heckel travels to Osterholz, where he works a great deal.
