Erich Heckel, born on July 31, 1883, in Düsseldorf, the son of a railway engineer, was one of the founders of the artists’ group Die Brücke in 1905, along with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff—both of whom are represented in the Heidi Horten Collection—and Fritz Bleyl, was among the founders of the artists’ group Die Brücke in 1905 (the group existed only until 1913). Heckel sought a unified painting style characterized by bold colors, strong contrasts, and a reduced formal language. One of his particularly significant works in the Heidi Horten Collection is the diptych *Women with Masks* (1909), which is located on the reverse side of the painting *Beach Landscape with Four Figures* (1921).

Women with a Mask was only uncovered during a restoration in 2002 and features a finely nuanced color scheme in shades of red. The painting is one of the masterpieces from Heckel’s early transitional phase. It impressively illustrates the artist’s stylistic development: While the later Beach Landscape displays a more flat, two-dimensional painting style with new techniques, Women with a Mask is still characterized by Expressionist directness and psychological depth. The juxtaposition of both sides impressively documents Heckel’s artistic transformation within a single decade.