Artwork
Death with a Coffin
Death with a Coffin is an ink print by Christian Rohlfs. It dates from 1917 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created around 1917, *Death with a Coffin* is a woodcut by German artist Christian Rohlfs, belonging to the broader movement of German Expressionism.
Created around 1917, *Death with a Coffin* is a woodcut by German artist Christian Rohlfs, belonging to the broader movement of German Expressionism. The work employs the stark, tactile qualities of woodcut printing to convey a somber theme. Its monochromatic palette and aggressive line work reflect the artist’s interest in emotional resonance over naturalistic detail, aligning with the period’s shift toward inner experience as subject matter.
Subject & Meaning
The print portrays a hooded, skeletal figure clutching a coffin, its face hidden beneath a deep cowl. The absence of facial features universalizes the figure, transforming it from a specific entity into an emblem of mortality. The coffin, held with deliberate weight, suggests inevitability rather than violence. The image evokes contemplation of death not as spectacle, but as an inescapable presence, quietly looming over human life.
Technique & Style
Rohlfs used the woodcut medium to exploit its inherent contrast: deep blacks and sharp, unmodulated whites. Bold, angular lines carve the figure and coffin with a sense of urgency, while the rough texture of the wood grain adds tactile tension. The composition is tightly focused, eliminating background detail to intensify the psychological weight of the central forms. This reduction to essentials is characteristic of Expressionist printmaking.
History & Provenance
Rohlfs produced this print during World War I, a time of widespread trauma and cultural upheaval in Germany. Though not part of any formal group, his work resonated with Expressionist circles in Berlin and Dresden. *Death with a Coffin* was likely made for private circulation or small editions, consistent with the artist’s preference for intimate, hand-printed works over mass reproduction.
Context
In the years surrounding 1917, German artists increasingly turned to printmaking as a direct, accessible medium to express disillusionment and existential anxiety. Rohlfs’s work, though less known than contemporaries like Kirchner or Nolde, shared their preoccupation with primal forms and emotional gravity. The image reflects a broader cultural reckoning with loss, where death was no longer abstract but a daily, visible reality.
Legacy
Rohlfs’s woodcuts, including *Death with a Coffin*, are now held in major European collections as examples of early 20th-century German printmaking. While not widely reproduced in popular culture, they remain significant for their raw formal economy and psychological depth. The work continues to inform discussions on how artists used print media to confront existential themes during times of crisis.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Christian Rohlfs (November 22, 1849 - January 8, 1938) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the important representatives of German expressionism.
