Karl Schmidt-RottluffGerman, 1884–1976Self-Portrait with Hat
About the painting
Schmidt-Rottluff painted this powerful self-portrait in Berlin, where he settled after being discharged from the army in World War I. The jarring colors reflect the artist's desire to project his inner, emotional self. The angular, geometric features reveal the influence of Cubism and African wood sculpture. Schmidt-Rottluff was a founding member of Die Brücke (The Bridge), a group of German Expressionists devoted to establishing a bridge between artists and society.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1965.440
Meanwhile, in the life of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff
The whole life1915–1918
A soldier on the Eastern Front
From 1915 to 1918 he serves as a soldier on the Eastern Front, in Russia and Lithuania; the experience hardly shows in his art, but while serving in Lithuania he turns increasingly to religious subjects.
1918
Marries Emy Frisch
In 1918 he marries Emy Frisch.
December 1918
Nine woodcuts on New Testament subjects
In December 1918 the Kurt Wolff Verlag in Munich publishes “Schmidt-Rottluff: 9 Holzschnitte”, a series of nine woodcuts based mainly on New Testament subjects — “Christ”, “Christ and Judas”, “Road to Emmaus”, “The Miraculous Draught of Fishes”. Simplified forms, angular cutting and strong contrasts of black and white address themes of faith, love, trust and betrayal.
1918–1921
The Workers' Council for Art and the journal “Die Aktion”
From 1918 to 1921 he belongs to the Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Workers' Council for Art), an anti-academic, socialist movement of German artists during the German Revolution of 1918–19, and contributes to the journal “Die Aktion”.
1918–1943
Berlin and annual trips to the Baltic
From 1918 to 1943 he lives in Berlin and travels to the Baltic Sea every year, working a great deal there.
