Badende mit Kopf auf Knie (Bather with Her Head on Her Knee)

Wilhelm Lehmbruck opened his first studio in Düsseldorf in 1907. In 1908 he married his longtime fiancée, Anita Kaufmann, who not only often posed for him but also took care of his business affairs and contributed to the small family's livelihood as a translator; the couple had three sons by the time of the artist's death; the second son, Manfred Lehmbruck, made a name for himself as an architect. In 1913 Lehmbruck was the only German artist whose work was shown at the Armory Show, the International Exhibition of Modern Art in New York. Wilhelm Lehmbruck escaped conscription thanks to a doctor's certificate that he was hard of hearing. In 1916 Fritz Wichert, the director of the Kunsthalle Mannheim, organized Wilhelm Lehmbruck's first solo exhibition. The art dealer Paul Cassirer arranged several sales for Lehmbruck to the Mannheim factory owner Sally Falks. Wilhelm Lehmbruck developed a passion, bordering on obsession, for the actress Elisabeth Bergner, who often posed for his portraits. His unrequited love for the young woman was accompanied by an increasing estrangement from his wife; at the same time, World War I cast its shadow over Germany and the artist's life. The difficult family situation, as well as the cramped conditions in his Zurich studio, intensified Wilhelm Lehmbruck's depression, so that the artist finally decided to commit suicide. Nevertheless, some of Lehmbruck's most important works were created during these last dark years, and they have consolidated his fame to this day. Shortly before his death, Lehmbruck was accepted into the Prussian Academy of Arts, but the news of his acceptance probably did not reach the artist before his death.