1174 - Kurt Bunge, figural scene, woodcut, annual gift of the Kassel Kunstverein, dated 1961

Kurt Bunge, figural scene, woodcut, annual gift of the Kassel Kunstverein, dated 1961 (1911 Bitterfeld – 1998 Kassel), woodcut on paper, signed and dated in pencil lower right „K. Bunge -61“, stamped verso „Jahresgabe Kasseler Kunstverein e.V.“. In the foreground stands a woman in half profile to the right, holding a large round mirror before her with both hands; behind her a second person looks out, one hand laid against the forehead while the other holds a further mirror. The figures are laid out in strong black areas and outlined by white cut lines, the ground is broken up into vertical bars and stripes. Age-appropriate good condition, margins creased and slightly yellowed. Image 39.5 x 27.5 cm (HxW), overall size 60.5 x 43 cm (HxW) Kurt Bunge studied from 1928 until his dismissal in 1933 at the Burg Giebichenstein art school in Halle under Charles Crodel and Gerhard Marcks. After the war he taught there from 1950 to 1959, from 1957 as professor at the institute for artistic design. In 1959 he left the GDR and worked freelance in Kassel until his death. He is among the best-known representatives of the Halle school; his figural compositions combine the flat forms of Expressionism with a strictly constructed order schooled in mural painting.