Antwerp (Antwerpen)

1912

Friendship with Franz Marc and Lyonel Feininger

In 1912 Heckel’s friendship with Franz Marc and Lyonel Feininger begins.

1913

The dissolution of Die Brücke

Die Brücke existed from 1905 to 1913; in 1913 the group dissolved.

1913

A first solo exhibition at the Gurlitt Gallery

Heckel’s first solo exhibition opens at the Gurlitt Gallery in Berlin.

1914

Volunteers at the outbreak of war, but is turned down

When war breaks out in 1914 Heckel volunteers for service in Berlin and undergoes a brief training, but the army ultimately rejects him as too old.

1915

Meetings with Max Beckmann and James Ensor

In Flanders Heckel finds himself in the same hospital train as Max Beckmann, at Roeselare, and he befriends James Ensor, who invites him into his house and studio.

May 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.