Jan Wiegers (1893-1959)

The book depicted in the present lot is a collection of expressionist poems by Georg Heym, Umbra Vitae from 1924. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner designed the cover illustration and illustrated the book with 46 woodcuts. When staying in Davos for health reasons Wiegers met Kirchner. Inspired by Kirchner's Expressionism, Wiegers would introduce elements and ideas of it when returning to The Netherlands. Together with fellow artists from Groningen Wiegers formed De Ploeg movement. The present lot can be seen as a tribute to Kirchner and to Expressionism.

The woman depicted on the reverse of the present lot is Marie Dijkstra-van Veen, the wife of the artist Johan Dijkstra.