1618 - Ackermann, Max. Untitled. (Drawing). Charcoal on vellum. Signed and dated in the lower right corner; signed again on the reverse; and signed, dated, and labeled “Drawing” once more on the back of the backing board. 1943. Sheet dimensions: 25 x 32.8 cm.

Ackermann, Max. Untitled. (Drawing). Charcoal on vellum. Signed and dated in the lower right corner; signed again on the reverse; and signed, dated, and labeled “Drawing” once more on the back of the backing board. 1943. Sheet dimensions: 25 x 32.8 cm. Abstract drawing from the Lake Constance period of Max Ackermann (1887–1975), who retired to the Höri Peninsula after the Nazis came to power. During this period, the small town became a artists’ colony; the so-called “Höri Circle” would later include, among others, Otto Dix (1891–1969) and Erich Heckel (1883–1970)—not least because of its geographical proximity to Switzerland. In 1936, Ackermann married Gertrud Ostermayer (1894–1978), after he had been barred from teaching in Stuttgart that same year. During his Lake Constance period, he began blending representational and abstract visual elements, while at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, his realist works were confiscated in 1937 as “degenerate art,” and in 1943, his studio—along with numerous early works—was destroyed during the bombing raids on Stuttgart.- Mounted on cardboard at the upper corners on the reverse; the cardboard is mounted in a mat; the paper is yellowed; the drawing is partially smudged; a dedication (?) in pencil at the lower edge of the sheet is illegible. - Provenance: From the estate of the Ackermann family.