Die Blinden Frauen (The Blind Women) (headpiece, page 38) from Georg Heym: Umbra Vitae (Georg Heym: The Shadow of Life)

Art Historical Context

**Die Blinden Frauen ( Blind Women)**, a striking woodcut headpiece on page 38, comes from Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's masterful 1924 illustration of Georg Heym'sous poetry collection *Um Vitae (The Shadow of Life)* This bound volume features 50 woodcuts—including the cover and endpapers—on wove paper, measuring 23.8 × 16.5 × 1.2 cm. Kirchner, a leading figure in German Expressionism and co-founder of the Dieücke group, captured the dark, visionary essence of Heym's surreal poems through his bold, angular forms and intense contrasts. Printed as part of a deluxe edition, these woodcuts showcase Kirchner's virtuosic command of the medium. Woodcuts, with their carved lines and stark black-and-white drama, were ideal for conveying the psychological turmoil and apocalyptic themes in Heym's work—Heym himself died young in 1912, adding poignant weight to the project. Kirchner's jagged contours and distorted figures evoke unease, mirroring the Expressionist drive to express inner emotion over realism. Now housed in the National Gallery of Art as a gift from Ruth Cole Kainen (Department CG-W, Classification: Volume), this piece invites visitors to explore the interplay of poetry and printmaking in Weimar-era Germany, where art grappled with life's shadows. A testament to Kirchner's later productivity amid personal struggles, it remains a haunting highlight of 20th-century book arts.

About the Artist

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1880–1938

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was born on May 6, 1880, in Aschaffenburg, Germany, to parents Ernst and Maria Kirchner, part of a family of Prussian descent that frequently relocated due to his father's career as a chemical technician. After early schooling in various towns, he studied architecture at the Königliche Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Dresden from 1901 to 1905, taking courses i...