The Great Anxiety (Self-Portrait, in Three-Quarter Profile to the Right) (Die große Angst [Selbstportrat, Kopf im Halbprofil nach rechts])

1918

Walter Gramatté

Associated Names
Walter Gramatté

Artist, German, 1897 - 1929

unidentified

Printer

Gustav Kiepenheuer

Publisher, German, 1880 - 1949

This print is an abstract, close-up sketch of a person's upper body, focusing primarily on their face and hands. The person's face has exaggerated features, including large eyes and a sharp nose. Their hair is depicted in swirling strokes that extend outward. The person's hand is raised, showing long, thin fingers. The portrait is rendered in dynamic, sweeping black lines. The background is plain, off-white paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    drypoint on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Ruth and Jacob Kainen Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 29.9 x 24.1 cm (11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in.)
    sheet: 40.1 x 30.7 cm (15 13/16 x 12 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1989.80.3

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Eckhardt 1932, no. 118

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Weyhe Gallery, New York); Jacob Kainen [1909-2001], Washington, D.C. (Lugt 4737), purchased 1972; gift to NGA, 1989.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2024

  • The Anxious Eye: German Expressionism and Its Legacy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2024.

Bibliography

1932

  • Eckhardt, Ferdinand. Das graphische Werk von Walter Gramatte. Zurich: Amalthea-Verlag, 1932: no. 118.

1985

  • NGA Kainen Coll. 1985, 61, repro. p.84.

Inscriptions

lower left in graphite: Die Grosse Angst; lower right in graphite: WalterGramatte' 18; lower left in plate: 1918 Mai; by later hand, lower center in graphite: Gramatte Die Grosse Angs

Markings

BS: DIE SCHAFFENDEN:
s Ruth Cole Kainen's mark]

Wikidata ID

Q74884193

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