The image contains bold black and red shapes, including a central figure with outstretched arms. It shows elongated, curved lines forming a stylized face with hands on both sides. The composition is bordered by black letters spelling out "Georg Heym," "Umbra Vitae," and "Kurt Wolff Verlag München." The combination of forms and text creates a graphic impact.
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Titelblatt (title page) from Georg Heym: Umbra Vitae (Georg Heym: Shadow of Life)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German, 1880 - 1938)

and author Georg Heym (German, born Poland, 1887 - 1912)

printer Spamersche Buchdruckerei, Leipzig

publisher Kurt Wolff (German, 1887 - 1963)

1924

Medium
woodcut, printed in red and black, on wove paper from a bound volume with 50 woodcuts (including cover and front and back endpapers)
Classification
Volume
Dimensions
book: 23.8 × 16.5 × 1.2 cm (9 3/8 × 6 1/2 × 1/2 in.)
Culture
German
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CG-W
Credit line
Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the National Gallery of Art