Erich Heckel (31 July 1883 – 27 January 1970) was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the group Die Brücke ("The Bridge") which existed 1905–1913.

[2] Heckel met the other founding members of Die Brücke, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Fritz Bleyl, while studying architecture in Dresden.

The foursome equally regarded pursuing a degree in architecture as a compromise with their respectable middle-class parents who would have never supported them, had they wanted to study art.

[4] Heckel attended the Dresden Polytechnic Institute for only eighteen months, after which time he accepted a job as a draughtsman at Wilhem Kreis's architectural studio.

[5] As a member of Die Brücke, Heckel often filled the role of business manager, which allowed the collective to network with other upcoming artists at the time, such as the Munich-based Franz Marc.

[4] It is worthwhile to note that with the exception of one favorable review by Paul Fetcher in the leading Dresden newspaper Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, the exhibition in Löbtau at the factory of the lamp manufacturer Max Seifert was considered to be a flop.

[6] However, much more noteworthy and ironically also notorious, were the next three annual shows by the Die Brücke, this time held in the fashionable Emil Richter Gallery.

In large, silent rooms, expensively furnished and smothered with lush carpets, the group's unconventional paintings and prints struck a foreseeably strident chord, amongst them notably a nude poster of a woman that ruffled many a complacent Dresdener.

It was Heckel's brother who introduced the group to African sculpture, and it is noted that their acceptance of primitive art, which was to fortify decisively the expressive yearnings of European artists- Was unequivocal.

The platoon was assembled by Walter Kaesbach, a curator from the National Gallery of Berlin, and included painters such as Max Kaus, Otto Herbig and Anton Kerschbaumer, as well as the poet Ernst Morwitz.

But as a painter, the Flemish landscape and North Sea created the deepest impression, especially the sunlight penetrating the unusual cloud formations.