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The image features an abstract composition with sharp, jagged lines and angular shapes. Text reading "DAS INFERNALISCHE ABENDMAHL" is displayed above the central design. In black and white, a central figure is surrounded by chaotic, overlapping forms, resembling shattered glass or a fractured landscape. These elements suggest movement and distortion. The abstract shapes could be interpreted as people around a table, reminiscent of a dinner scene. Below the image, there is German text composed of multiple stanzas.
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Das Infernalische Abendmahl (The Infernal Last Supper) (headpiece, page 48) from Georg Heym: Umbra Vitae (Georg Heym: The 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 from a bound volume with 50 woodcuts (including cover and front and back endpapers) on wove paper
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

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