Introducing Erich Heckel, the unsung driving force of Die Brucke

"Humble, poetic, tender, introverted-the words used to describe Erich Heckel (1883-1970) differ enormously from those attached to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, perhaps the most colourful and best-known of the founders of the German Expressionist group Die Brücke (the bridge). Where Kirchner's life was characterised by drama, addiction and mental illness, Heckel's "lacks everything that would have made it entertaining," wrote the art critic Hans-Joachim Müller in 2009. "No scandals, no drugs, no records on the art market, no stories with women.""

"But Heckel's art was at least as bold and radical as that of the other Die Brücke artists, and worthy of more attention than it has received of late. While there have been dozens of museum exhibitions devoted to Kirchner in recent years, a show opening this month at the Neue Galerie in New York will be the first dedicated to Heckel at a US museum."

"Heckel was the business brain behind Die Brücke, which he founded in 1905 in a disused shoemaker's shop with Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl, fellow architecture students at Dresden's Technical College. He was instrumental in organising exhibitions including the 1906 show in a Dresden lamp factory-a defining moment for the group-and its first museum show at Museum Folkwang in Hagen in 1907."

Erich Heckel combined introverted temperament with decisive organizational skill as a founding member of Die Brücke. Heckel founded the group in 1905 with fellow architecture students and coordinated pivotal early exhibitions, including a 1906 lamp-factory show and a 1907 museum presentation at Museum Folkwang. Heckel acted as the group’s business brain, transforming youthful idealism into sustained promotion of their art. His paintings are as bold and radical as those of better-known colleagues, yet his reputation has lagged behind. The Neue Galerie in New York presents the first US museum exhibition devoted to Heckel, reflecting renewed recognition.

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