Woodcut on brown cardboard, 21,7 x 15 cm. Printed on the verso of a cardboard with the imprint "Die Rheinlande/Monatsschrift für deutsche Kunst und Dichtung..." and also labeled "Sendung von August Bagel in Düsseldorf/Buch- und Kunstdruckerei, Verlagsbuchhandlung...", with handwritten address of the artist "Professor Chr. Rohlfs/Hagen i. W./…“ (trimmed). The brown cardboard with the woodcut glued to a grey support sheet with the artist's signature and titling "Elias i.(n) d.(er) Wüste". Reference: Vogt 92, Utermann 129.
Almost all the woodcuts that Rohlfs (born in 1849) created from 1908 onwards and thus turned to Expressionism (certainly also inspired by the artists' group "Die Brücke") have an experimental character and were never intended for editions. In the vast majority of cases they are one-offs, and so it is fitting that Rohlfs unceremoniously used the back of an envelope addressed to him for the present print. This did not prevent him from recognising as fully valid by titling and signing a work that other artists might have rejected because of the use of "inferior material", the slightly displaced woodblock during printing and the rather light inking.The latter, however, is virtually Rohlfs' "trademark" and makes each print unique.
