Woodcut. With the estate stamp of the Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570 b) and the handwritten number “H 392” on the reverse. Titled on the reverse by a hand other than that of the artist. The only known copy from this printing state. In addition, there is also a colored copy of this woodcut from two blocks in dark red and yellow-orange. On soft Blotting paper. 33.5 x 40 cm. Sheet: 38,2 x 48,7 cm.
[CH].

• The only known copy from the first printing state (in black) and one of only a total of two copies of this woodcut.
• After Kirchner's relocation to the area near Davos, the life of the farmers became an important source of inspiration for the artist.
• In terms of motifs, the horned animals were just as important to Kirchner during these years as the horses were to Franz Marc: cows were an integral part of Kirchner's oeuvre in the Davos years.
• Kirchner also shows the animals in numerous paintings, including “Kühe im Wald” (Pinakothek der Moderne, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Munich), “Kühe bei Sonnenuntergang” (Batliner Collection, Albertina, Vienna), and “Die weiße Kuh” (1920, Kunsthalle Hamburg).
LITERATURE: Günther Gercken, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kritisches Werkverzeichnis der Druckgraphik, vol. 4 (1917-1919), Bern 2015, p. 292, cat. rais. no. 1089 1. Annemarie and Wolf-Dieter Dube, E. L. Kirchner. Das graphische Werk, Munich 1967, cat. rais. no. H 395 a (illustrated). Gustav Schiefler, Die Graphik Ernst Ludwig Kirchners, vol. 2 (1917-1927), Berlin-Charlottenburg 1931, cat. rais. no. H 392.