Erich Heckel in Vlaanderen

On Monday 8 March 1915, a young artist alighted from the Berlin train in Ghent Sint-Pieters. Having travelled past Leuven, which lay in ruins, he continued onwards to Roeselare, where he was met by fellow Red Cross volunteers. The First World War was entering its seventh month, but would continue for years.

Erich Heckel (1883–1970), co-founder of the Dresden-based artists’ group Die Brücke in 1905, is one of the luminaries of German expressionism, alongside Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. During the nearly four years that Heckel was stationed in Flanders, he produced seventy-five paintings, hundreds of drawings and watercolours and numerous prints. His powerful woodcuts became the benchmark for expressionist graphics in Germany and far beyond.

This lesser-known period in Heckel’s oeuvre, which nevertheless forms a recognizable and coherent whole, is the subject of this book. The landscapes and seascapes rank among his finest works. Familiar elements – land and sea, sky and light – all acquire a deeper significance during this period. And the ever-changing light is not just synonymous with Ostend and the North Sea, but also with James Ensor, whom Heckel befriended and greatly admired. Erich Heckel’s Flemish works are born of observation and experience, representation and expression, memory and desire. They are romantic and expressive, spiritual and tangible, nostalgic and – unlike the brutal era in which they were created – eminently hopeful.

Lieven Van Den Abeele (b. 1957) studied art history at Ghent University. His career highlights include: art critic for De Standaard newspaper, lecturer in modern and contemporary art history at art schools in Nîmes, Bordeaux and Ghent, and education officer at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent.