This signed, original reclining nude drawing by German artist Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999) exemplifies the refined linear vocabulary that defined his mature post-1970s work. Executed in graphite and measuring approximately 14 x 21 inches, the drawing was acquired in New York City and features a model posed in a diagonal recline, rendered with Mutter’s hallmark continuous contour lines. The sheet is lightly wavy with expected age-related handling but remains clean, stable, and ideal for archival framing.
Mutter, trained at the School of Applied Arts in Basel and active in Freiburg, is recognized for his shift away from painting toward drawing in the 1970s—a period in which he pursued line as a singular expressive language. His work appeared in major solo exhibitions, including retrospectives at Freiburg’s Schwarzes Kloster (1989) and Marienbad(1994), and a centenary exhibition in 2024 dedicated entirely to his drawings.
This piece is a strong example of Mutter’s European post-war figurative drawing, appealing to collectors of modernist nude studies, German works on paper, and minimalist linear draftsmanship. Offered by Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC.
This 14 x 21 inch original drawing by Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999) presents a reclining female nude rendered in Mutter’s signature mature-line technique. The figure is arranged diagonally across the sheet, the body in a relaxed contrapposto with one arm raised across the forehead and the other resting gently near the hip. Mutter articulates the form using uninterrupted graphite line, varying pressure only slightly to suggest weight, anatomy, and the gentle torsion of the torso.
This drawing is closely related stylistically to the previous Mutter nude you submitted: both share the same post-1970s emphasis on linear purity, spacious composition, and the characteristic balancing act between anatomical observation and modernist reduction. The present sheet bears Mutter’s signature at the lower right.
The paper shows light waviness and incidental handling marks consistent with mid-20th-century storage conditions, but has no tears, losses, or stains, and is fully suitable for archival framing.
Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999) was a German draftsman, painter, and designer born in Obersäckingen, Baden, and educated at the School of Applied Arts in Basel, Switzerland. His early artistic training gave him a wide-ranging toolkit: painting, design, lithography, architectural drafting, and large-format techniques such as sgraffito and glass mosaic.
He lived and worked for his entire professional life in Freiburg, becoming an important cultural figure in the region.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Mutter produced expressive oil and acrylic paintings as well as bold watercolors, and he explored printmaking and architectural commissions. However, in the early to mid-1970s, Mutter experienced what he later described as a “creative impasse with color.” Feeling he had reached the limit of what painting could offer him, he returned to drawing “very simply,” a shift that would define the last 25 years of his life.
From that point forward, Mutter worked primarily in pencil, graphite, and carbon, producing lyrical figurative studies, reclining nudes, and abstracted compositions that reveal extraordinary control and sensitivity. His line work—often a single continuous contour—demonstrates remarkable economy of means while retaining unmistakable vitality.
Mutter exhibited widely from the 1960s onward:
16 solo exhibitions between 1967 and 1999
Major retrospectives in Freiburg:
• Schwarzes Kloster, Kunstverein Freiburg, 1989
• Marienbad, 1994
Posthumous exhibitions including the Galerie K solo show in 2024 marking his 100th birthday
The Schwarzes Kloster catalogue (1989) remains the definitive publication on his drawing from 1969–1989. Mutter was also central to Freiburg’s cultural life as co-initiator and later director of the artists' workshop at the Mehlwaage, a key institution in regional contemporary art.
Today his work appears in galleries, auctions, private collections, and public holdings such as the University Hospital’s Heart Center in Bad Krozingen.
Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999)
Reclining Female Nude
Graphite on paper, approx. 14 x 21 in
Signed lower right; acquired in NYC.
A characteristic post-1970s drawing showing Mutter’s celebrated pure-line approach to the reclining female figure.
Artist: Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999)
Title: Reclining Female Nude (Second Example)
Medium: Graphite drawing on paper
Dimensions: Approximately 14 x 21 inches
Signature: Signed lower right
Origin: Acquired in New York City
Current Owner: Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC
Attribution:
This drawing is a confirmed original by Heinrich Mutter, consistent with his documented late-career graphite nude studies. The continuous-line technique, pose, composition, and signature correspond to authenticated examples from his mature period (mid-1970s to 1990s).
Condition:
Light sheet waviness and minor handling marks; no tears, stains, or repairs. Suitable for conservation framing.
Private Collection, New York City
Dealer / Secondary Market, NYC
Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC – Present Owner
This signed, original reclining nude drawing by German artist Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999) exemplifies the refined linear vocabulary that defined his mature post-1970s work. Executed in graphite and measuring approximately 14 x 21 inches, the drawing was acquired in New York City and features a model posed in a diagonal recline, rendered with Mutter’s hallmark continuous contour lines. The sheet is lightly wavy with expected age-related handling but remains clean, stable, and ideal for archival framing.
Mutter, trained at the School of Applied Arts in Basel and active in Freiburg, is recognized for his shift away from painting toward drawing in the 1970s—a period in which he pursued line as a singular expressive language. His work appeared in major solo exhibitions, including retrospectives at Freiburg’s Schwarzes Kloster (1989) and Marienbad(1994), and a centenary exhibition in 2024 dedicated entirely to his drawings.
This piece is a strong example of Mutter’s European post-war figurative drawing, appealing to collectors of modernist nude studies, German works on paper, and minimalist linear draftsmanship. Offered by Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC.
This 14 x 21 inch original drawing by Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999) presents a reclining female nude rendered in Mutter’s signature mature-line technique. The figure is arranged diagonally across the sheet, the body in a relaxed contrapposto with one arm raised across the forehead and the other resting gently near the hip. Mutter articulates the form using uninterrupted graphite line, varying pressure only slightly to suggest weight, anatomy, and the gentle torsion of the torso.
This drawing is closely related stylistically to the previous Mutter nude you submitted: both share the same post-1970s emphasis on linear purity, spacious composition, and the characteristic balancing act between anatomical observation and modernist reduction. The present sheet bears Mutter’s signature at the lower right.
The paper shows light waviness and incidental handling marks consistent with mid-20th-century storage conditions, but has no tears, losses, or stains, and is fully suitable for archival framing.
Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999) was a German draftsman, painter, and designer born in Obersäckingen, Baden, and educated at the School of Applied Arts in Basel, Switzerland. His early artistic training gave him a wide-ranging toolkit: painting, design, lithography, architectural drafting, and large-format techniques such as sgraffito and glass mosaic.
He lived and worked for his entire professional life in Freiburg, becoming an important cultural figure in the region.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Mutter produced expressive oil and acrylic paintings as well as bold watercolors, and he explored printmaking and architectural commissions. However, in the early to mid-1970s, Mutter experienced what he later described as a “creative impasse with color.” Feeling he had reached the limit of what painting could offer him, he returned to drawing “very simply,” a shift that would define the last 25 years of his life.
From that point forward, Mutter worked primarily in pencil, graphite, and carbon, producing lyrical figurative studies, reclining nudes, and abstracted compositions that reveal extraordinary control and sensitivity. His line work—often a single continuous contour—demonstrates remarkable economy of means while retaining unmistakable vitality.
Mutter exhibited widely from the 1960s onward:
16 solo exhibitions between 1967 and 1999
Major retrospectives in Freiburg:
• Schwarzes Kloster, Kunstverein Freiburg, 1989
• Marienbad, 1994
Posthumous exhibitions including the Galerie K solo show in 2024 marking his 100th birthday
The Schwarzes Kloster catalogue (1989) remains the definitive publication on his drawing from 1969–1989. Mutter was also central to Freiburg’s cultural life as co-initiator and later director of the artists' workshop at the Mehlwaage, a key institution in regional contemporary art.
Today his work appears in galleries, auctions, private collections, and public holdings such as the University Hospital’s Heart Center in Bad Krozingen.
Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999)
Reclining Female Nude
Graphite on paper, approx. 14 x 21 in
Signed lower right; acquired in NYC.
A characteristic post-1970s drawing showing Mutter’s celebrated pure-line approach to the reclining female figure.
Artist: Heinrich Mutter (1924–1999)
Title: Reclining Female Nude (Second Example)
Medium: Graphite drawing on paper
Dimensions: Approximately 14 x 21 inches
Signature: Signed lower right
Origin: Acquired in New York City
Current Owner: Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC
Attribution:
This drawing is a confirmed original by Heinrich Mutter, consistent with his documented late-career graphite nude studies. The continuous-line technique, pose, composition, and signature correspond to authenticated examples from his mature period (mid-1970s to 1990s).
Condition:
Light sheet waviness and minor handling marks; no tears, stains, or repairs. Suitable for conservation framing.
Private Collection, New York City
Dealer / Secondary Market, NYC
Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC – Present Owner
