(Head of Christ from the series "Das Spiel Christa"), 1918.
Woodcut on laid paper, 9,2 x 8,4 cm. In complete issue of the magazine "Die Aktion", Vol 8, no. 41/42, October 1918. With a title woodcut by Ines Wetzel and another full-page woodcut by Georg Tappert. Reference: Schapire 227 (Rottluff), Söhn HDO 40821-2 (Rottluff); Söhn HDO 40821-1 (Wetzel); Wietek 127 (Tappert), Söhn HDO 40821-3 (Tappert).
"Das Spiel Christa" by Alfred Brust, published in 1918 by Pfemfert's Aktions-Verlag, was illustrated by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff with 9 small-format woodcuts. Not only was it the only series of woodcuts by Rottluff to be based on a literary text, but the artist had never used such small formats before or since except in his contributions to commercial art. The small format demanded a further reduction in Rottluff's typical style, which was reduced to the essentials already, giving this series, which otherwise has no religious motifs, a charm all of its own. Motifs with religious content, on the other hand, were generally more in the artist's focus in the last year of World War I.
